Moqtada al-Sadr defends Iraqi resistance

Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr blasted Shiite leader Ammar al-Hakim on Friday for tacitly supporting an extended stay for foreign troops in Iraq. Hakim, the influential leader of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, arrived in Beirut early this week to meet with Lebanese leaders and senior Hezbollah officials. Hakim during meetings with religious figures in Lebanon labeled the so-called resistance movement in Iraq as "just some group of killers" who "are not clear in identity," the Voices of Iraq news agency reports. Sadr, who once led a violent insurgency against U.S. forces in Iraq with his Mehdi Army, blasted Hakim's response as "illogical and unacceptable" during a sermon during Friday prayers. Sadr accused Hakim of making the statements because he "wants occupation forces to stay in Iraq," VOI said.