Strife leads Iraqi cleric to urge revenge against U.S. troops

NAJAF, IRAQ —  Anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada Sadr called Wednesday for “revenge operations” against American forces to protest Israel’s Gaza Strip offensive.

The statement issued by the Shiite Muslim cleric’s office in Najaf also urged that Palestinian flags be raised on mosques, churches and other buildings in Iraq and that all countries shut down Israel’s embassies.

U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters, “Any call for attacks against Americans is outrageous and, frankly, not worthy of much more comment.”

Last month, Sadr issued a statement calling for protests, and his followers have complied with rallies against the offensive.

But he said more steps were needed “due to the continuation of Arab silence and the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy under U.S. and international cover.”

Sadr and his militiamen have been staunch opponents of the U.S. presence in Iraq, staging fierce battles in 2004. He ordered his fighters to stand down in 2007 but said he would retain a smaller fighting force as long as U.S. troops remained in Iraq.