Iraqi Shiite cleric threatens US over budget provision

BAGHDAD — An influential Shiite cleric threatened Wednesday to attack US interests in Iraq and abroad over a congressional provision to send arms directly to Sunni and Kurdish fighters.

The proposed measure in the House Republicans' defence authorisation bill for next year would distribute a quarter of the $715 million authorised to train and equip the Iraqi army outside the government's control. It's unclear if the provision will survive the months-long legislative process.

"In the event of approving this bill by the US Congress, we will find ourselves obliged to unfreeze the military wing and start targeting the American interests in Iraq — even abroad, which is doable," said the statement on Muqtada Al Sadr's website.

In a rare turn of events, both Sadr and President Barack Obama signaled their opposition to the provision by House Republicans. Proposing to give 25 per cent of the funds directly to the Kurdish peshmerga and Sunni forces is one of several provisions in the military policy measure that the White House said on Tuesday that the president opposes.

The statement from Al Sadr underscored how closely the Shiite cleric is following the lengthy, often arcane legislative process. The release of the House GOP version of the bill on Monday was just the first step, and it got barely any notice outside of the Pentagon and Congress.

But it clearly registered in Baghdad.

Sadr's militia, the Mahdi Army, was one of the most determined opponents of the US military between 2003 and 2011, but it went dormant after the pullout.

The Iraqi government has also rejected the provision.

"Any weapons supplying will be done only through the Iraqi government," it said. "The draft law proposed by the foreign affairs committee in the US Congress is rejected and it will lead to more division in the region and we urge it be stopped."

The United States has already spent billions arming and training the Iraqi military, but it performed poorly last year when Daesh militants swept across western and northern Iraq, routing four divisions.

Some of the most effective fighters against Daesh have been the Kurdish peshmerga, but they say the government has not given them enough arms.