Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr branded US President George W. Bush an "enemy" and told him to withdraw his forces from Iraq or face a revolution.
"I address my enemy Bush. You are now fighting an entire nation, from south to north, from east to west, and we advise you to withdraw from Iraq," Sadr said Friday in a message that was read at the main mosque in the central town of Kufa by one of his aides.
"I call on America not to confront the Iraqi revolution," said Sheikh Jaber al-Khafagi, while he addressed worshippers gathered for the main weekly prayers, according to AFP.
In his message, Sadr warned Bush that unless he removed his forces from Iraq, "you will lose the elections you are now struggling for".
He also warned that Iraqis who failed to heed his call to fight the US-led occupation would "burn in hell". "All faithful Iraqi men and women who have heard my call (to join) the struggle and do not heed it, will burn in hell ... and will be an outlaw," his message said.
Meanwhile, a senior aide to al-Sadr denied on Friday that his supporters were involved in the kidnapping of three Japanese.
Amer al-Husseini, the cleric's representative in the Sadr City district of Baghdad, told reporters after Friday's prayers that the group had nothing to do with the kidnapping. "We condemn such acts and we pray for their release," al-Husseini said, according to AP.
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
