6 al-Sadr loyalists quit al-Maliki's Cabinet

BAGHDAD — In the first major shake-up of Iraq's fragile coalition government, six ministers loyal to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr pulled out of the Cabinet on Monday over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's refusal to set a timetable for an American troop withdrawal from Iraq.

The action frees al-Maliki to pick qualified people to fill ministries that are widely seen as ineffective, corrupt and sectarian. Yet it could also deepen tensions with al-Sadr within the government and on the streets, Iraqi officials and analysts said.

Al-Sadr's legislators blamed the government for not providing basic services, although they themselves ran ministries such as health and transit.

Even with the resignations, al-Sadr loyalists hold 30 seats in Iraq's parliament and for now plan to remain a part of the ruling Shiite political alliance, they said.

Al-Sadr, who has long demanded a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, has threatened before to leave the U.S.-backed government.

For several months, al-Maliki has said he intended to reshuffle his Cabinet. Al-Sadr's officials four months ago sent him a list of 18 candidates, said Bahar al-Araji, an al-Sadr parliamentarian. Falah Shanshal, head of al-Sadr's parliamentary bloc, acknowledged their decision to leave was partly because al-Maliki would not choose any of their candidates.

Al-Maliki, in a statement Monday, welcomed al-Sadr's decision to give him the opportunity to fill the six slots. But he resisted demands for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal.

Haider al-Abadi, a legislator from al-Maliki's Dawa party, said the prime minister would act quickly to fill the positions, although al-Abadi didn't say when.

"The danger is that they [al-Sadr's legislators] could leave the political process or take to the streets and disrupt the security plan," said al-Abadi, referring to the nine-week-old security offensive to pacify Baghdad.

The withdrawal occurred on a day when the U.S. military reported the deaths of seven American troops, including five who were killed Monday — three soldiers in Baghdad and two Marines in Anbar province — and two soldiers slain Saturday in Fallujah.

In the northern city of Mosul, a university dean, a professor, a policeman's son and 13 soldiers died in attacks bearing the signs of al-Qaida in Iraq. Nationwide, at least 51 people were killed or found dead.

The decision to withdraw comes a week after al-Sadr mobilized tens of thousands of followers in the southern holy city of Najaf on the fourth anniversary of the fall of President Saddam Hussein. The demonstrators demanded a timetable for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. But a few days later, al-Maliki said he had no plans to set a timetable.

Motivated by the prospects of such a withdrawal, al-Sadr has uneasily cooperated with the current security plan, allowing U.S. troops to enter his Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City and ordering his Mahdi Army militiamen to stand down. But in the past two months, bombings have risen in Shiite areas while U.S. and Iraqi troops have killed or arrested hundreds of his fighters.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.