Iraqi cleric issues new warning against US troops

Iraq's fiery anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will "escalate military resistance" and unleash his Mehdi Army militia if US troops fail to leave Iraq, the cleric was quoted as saying on Saturday.

On the 8th anniversary of the day US forces toppled Saddam Hussein's statue in Baghdad, spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi read a speech from the influential Shiite cleric to tens of thousands of followers. (Reuters)