Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stated on Saturday that "there is no place for militias in Iraq, and everyone will support the army, police, and security forces," emphasizing the "necessity of forming a majority government where there is no place for sectarianism and ethnicity."
In a statement, Muqtada al-Sadr mentioned, "Today, there is no place for sectarianism or ethnicity, but rather a national majority government, where a Shiite defends the rights of minorities, Sunnis, and Kurds, a Kurdish person defends the rights of minorities, Sunnis, and Shiites, and a Sunni defends the rights of minorities, Shiites, and Kurds."
He continued, "Today, there is no place for corruption; all sects will join in supporting reform. And today, there is no place for militias; everyone will support the army, police, and security forces, and the law will prevail through an honest Iraqi judiciary."
He added, "Today we will say, we and the people: No to dependency... Our decision is Iraqi—Shiite, Sunni, Kurdish, Turkmen, Christian, Faily, Shabak, Yazidi, Sabean: (a national mosaic of Iraq, neither Eastern nor Western)."
The statement concluded with the leader of the Sadrist movement signing it, referring to himself as "the Iraqi citizen Muqtada al-Sadr."
