Shi'ite cleric Sadr calls on rival to join him in ousting Iraqi PM Mahdi

Shi'ite cleric Sadr calls on rival to join him in ousting Iraqi PM Mahdi

Populist Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr invited on Tuesday the head of a rival political bloc to work with him on introducing in parliament a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi.

"To answer brother Abdul Mahdi, I thought asking you to call an early election would preserve your dignity but as you have refused, I invite brother Amiri to work with me on withdrawing confidence from you immediately," he said in a statement.