Sadrists tell U.S. to get out of Iraq

BAGHDAD, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- Washington is making an effort to make sure Iraq remains a very dangerous place, a spokesman for the party loyal to anti-American cleric Moqtada Sadr said.

Salah al-Abadi, a spokesman for the Sadrist Movement, told Iran's semiofficial Fars News Agency that it was the Americans' fault for unsettling trends in Iraq.

"The U.S. is seeking to make Iraq insecure though its elements in the country," he was quoted as saying.

His comments came as at least 65 people were reported killed in a series of attacks across several provinces in the country. Osama al-Nujeify, the speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, was quoted by the Voices of Iraq news agency as blaming "officers in charge of the security bodies in the government" for much of the violence.

The Sadrist spokesman maintained that despite the violence, U.S. forces should leave Iraq according the terms spelled out in a 2008 status of forces agreement.

"Based on the security agreement they should leave Iraq's soil by the end of 2011," he was quoted as saying.