“The anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has told his followers to stop attacking US troops in Iraq so as not to slow their withdrawal from the country. In a statement posted on his website, the Shia cleric tells his militias to halt attacks until the US withdrawal is finished at the end of the year as required under a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad. ‘Out of my desire to complete Iraq’s independence and to finish the withdrawal of the occupation forces from our holy lands, I am obliged to halt military operations of the honest Iraqi resistance until the withdrawal of the occupation forces is complete,’ al-Sadr said in the statement, posted on Saturday night [September 10, 2011]. …However, al-Sadr warned that ‘if the withdrawal doesn’t happen…the military operations will be resumed in a new and tougher way.’ ”
– Lara Jakes, “Iraq Cleric to Followers: Stop Attacking US Troops,” Associated Press, Sep. 11, 2011