Sadr welcomes the American withdrawal and warns against what may follow it

BAGHDAD — Muqtada al-Sadr welcomed the departure of American and coalition forces on Sept. 30 while warning that it must not become an opening for other foreign powers to interfere in Iraq, and told Iraqi politicians not to invite the Americans back as they did in 2014.

“We are awaiting, with joy and happiness, the date for the withdrawal of the American forces, and indeed the international coalition forces, from Iraq, according to the previously specified date,” he said in a statement, calling on Washington to comply with what he described as an Iraqi national decision and saying the withdrawal would serve Iraq, the United States and the wider international community.

He did not name the countries he had in mind for what comes next. “We hope that this withdrawal will not be the beginning of foreign interventions in Iraqi affairs in a way that undermines Iraq’s sovereignty, independence and prestige,” he said.

“Iraqi politicians must not repeat their bad and mistaken request for American intervention once again, as they did the first time,” he said. The coalition was formed in 2014 at Iraq’s request after the Islamic State group took Mosul and Tikrit, in the same period Sadr’s own followers joined the mobilisation against the group.

Iraq could defend itself through its own forces, particularly the border guards and the air force, under federal authority and while avoiding sectarian, ethnic and other internal conflict, he said, and Iraq’s security institutions should be strengthened under the centralised authority of the commander-in-chief — the formulation the government uses for its weapons policy.

The government says the withdrawal and the handover of coalition sites are proceeding on schedule and that the mission ends completely on Sept. 30. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi rejected a request for part of the coalition to remain beyond that date, according to the Security Media Cell, which said Iraqi forces were ready to take on bases, borders and other duties. Security adviser Qasim al-Araji has said the date applies to the withdrawal rather than serving as a deadline for factions to hand over weapons, with those talks continuing afterwards.