Iraqi cleric Sadr urges restraint after deadly attacks [View All]

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18438657.htm

LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who led two bloody uprisings against U.S. troops, has appealed for calm after a wave of suicide bombings killed scores of people across Iraq.

In an interview with BBC television broadcast on Monday, the cleric said the Iraqi people had the right to fight U.S.-led forces, but urged them to show restraint.

"I believe America does not want confrontation, so I call on the Iraqi people to exercise restraint and not get enmeshed in the plans of the West or the plans of the occupation that wants to provoke them," Sadr said.

A wave of suicide bombings has caused devastation across Iraq since the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government took power in April.