Iraq’s powerful Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Monday he was quitting politics and closing his institutions in response to an intractable political deadlock, a decision that could fuel instability.
“I hereby announce my final withdrawal,” Sadr said in a statement posted on Twitter, criticising fellow Shia political leaders for failing to heed his calls for reform.
He did not elaborate on the closure of his offices, but said that cultural and religious institutions would remain open.
Sadr has previously announced withdrawals from politics or government and the disbanding of militias loyal to him but retains widespread control over state institutions and still has a paramilitary group with thousands of members.
—Reuters
