Sadr returns to Iraq

NAJAF, Iraq, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A spokesman for Moqtada Sadr said the anti-American cleric would deliver a sermon marking his return to Iraq possibly as early as Thursday.

Sadr arrived Wednesday in the Iraqi holy city of Najaf following nearly four years of self-imposed exile in Iran, The Washington Post reports. The radical Shiite cleric left Iraq in 2007 as U.S. forces started scouring the country to carry out an arrest warrant for him.

He appeared occasionally in Lebanon and Damascus during his exile and his return coincided with a visit to Baghdad by Iranian caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

Sadr proved influential as Iraq tried to end a lingering political stalemate. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was able to get enough support for a second term following a November visit to Iran, though U.S. analysts downplay the influence Tehran has over Baghdad.

Salehi met Wednesday with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari at Baghdad International Airport where the Iranian minister was expected to congratulate Iraqi leaders on the December approval of a new Cabinet.

Sadr, the Post adds, is expected to deliver a sermon as early as Thursday, his spokesman said.

Baghdad, meanwhile, is left with only a partial Cabinet after months of political wrangling. Several key ministers, including defense, are filled by holdovers from the previous government.