Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called Sunday for the Iraqi government to open a "fair" investigation into last week's deadly clashes surrounding a religious celebration in Karbala. Al-Sadr's followers threatened to take unspecified measures if the government refuses the demand.
They also warned they would halt a six-month suspension of Mahdi Army attacks if American and Iraqi forces continue operations against militia members.
Al-Sadr, who has denied that the Mahdi Army provoked the confrontation, urged an investigation and added a threat to take matters into his own hands if the government does not act. "We warn the government and the concerned sides that if a fair investigation is not opened, we will be forced to take different measures," he said in a statement, cited by the AP.
Meanwhile, the British criticism over the US handling of Iraq grew Sunday as another military commander blasted Washington's "fatally flawed" policy. Major General Tim Cross, the top British officer involved in planning post-war Iraq, said he raised serious concerns with then US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld about the possibility of the country descending into chaos.
But Rumsfeld "ignored" or "dismissed" his warnings, the general told the Sunday Mirror newsapaper.
On Saturday, the head of the British Army during the 2003 invasion launched a fierce attack on the Pentagon over its handling of Iraq. General Sir Mike Jackson branded US post-invasion policy "intellectually bankrupt" and said Rumsfeld was "one of the most responsible for the current situation in Iraq."
