Sadr bloc quits Iraqi cabinet

Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ordered his followers to withdraw from the Iraqi cabinet on Monday in protest at Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s refusal to set a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Sardr’s bloc holds six cabinet ministries and a quarter of the parliamentary seats in Maliki's Shia Alliance, a coalition of Shia parties.

"The prime minister has to express the will of the Iraqi people. They went out in a demonstration in their millions asking for a timetable for withdrawal. We noticed the prime minister's response did not express the will of the people,” the head of Sadr’s bloc in parliament, Nassar al-Rubaie told a news conference, reading a statement on Sadr’s behalf.

"For the public benefit and lifting the suffering of the patient Iraqi people ... we found it necessary to issue an order to the ministers of the Sadrist bloc to withdraw immediately from the Iraqi government,"

"The six ministries shall be handed over to the government itself, hoping that this government would give these responsibilities to independent bodies who wish to serve the interests of the people and the country,” Rubaie added.

Sadr’s movement has 32 lawmakers in the country's 275-member government.

Last week, tens of thousands of Iraqis answered a call by Sadr to stage a peaceful demonstration in the holy Shia city of Najaf to protest against the continued presence of some 140,000 U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq.

Sade himself didn’t appear at the rally. U.S. officials claim that he fled to Iran, but his aides insist that he is still in Iraq.

Maliki refused to set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal, saying a pullout depends on conditions on the ground.

Sadr holds great power among Iraq's Shia majority, and analysts say the unity government is likely to survive after the withdrawal of his supporters from the cabinet.

The Sadrists had just returned to parliament in February following a two-month boycott that had left the cabinet in virtual limbo.

Sadr’s Mahdi Army fought two uprisings against U.S. occupation forces in 2004 but the young cleric has since become a major political player.

The U.S. claims that his Mahdi Army is fueling sectarian violence, a charge Sadr strongly denies.

U.S. troops kill Iraqi policemen in “friendly fire”

U.S. occupation forces killed three Iraqi policemen on Monday during a raid against fighters in the western city of Ramadi in what the U.S. army described as a “friendly fire” incident.

The army said in a statement that U.S. ground forces received small arms fire during a raid operation in Ramadi and returned fire.

The three men killed in the fighting were later identified as Iraqi police.

The incident is under investigation, the military statement said.

Gunmen kill 13 Iraqi soldiers

Unidentified gunmen killed at least 13 Iraqi soldiers in the northern city of Mosul, police said.

Four soldiers were also wounded when gunmen opened fire at a checkpoint in the Abdaiyah area of Mosul.

Monday’s violence came as human rights group Amnesty International appealed for urgent international action to help Iraqi refugees.

Amnesty said neighboring Syria and Jordan are running out of resources and struggling to care for more than two million Iraqis who fled the violence that is gripping their country.

Last month, the United Nations refugee agency said many countries around the world are refusing to recognize the humanitarian impact of the invasion of Iraq.

It is estimated that about 50,000 Iraqis leave the war-torn country each month.