Firebrand Iraqi cleric scraps his Islamic-style government
Militant Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr announced he had scrapped the Islamic-style rival government he announced last week, citing lack of popular support. “Until now there have been no demonstrations of public support for this government, and as a result, I cannot create it,” he told Al-Arabiya television in an interview Wednesday. The firebrand young cleric announced during his Friday sermon that he had formed a government that included a religious affairs ministry and another responsible for the preservation of virtue and eradication of vice. Full Story