By Haider al-Kaabi
Najaf, May 25, (VOI)- Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday called for the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Iraq urging his followers not to clash with Iraqi army and police forces in the first appearance he made in three months during the Friday prayer in Kufa mosque, east of Najaf.

Addressing hundreds of worshippers who gathered in Kufa mosque today at noon, Sadr urged the Iraqi government not to extend the presence of the foreign forces in Iraq even for a single day more, saying " the government is not authorized to extend the mandate of the foreign forces in Iraq after a million people demonstrated to protest that presence and 144 lawmakers signed to demand the pullout of theses forces."

On April 9, tens of thousands people, coming from allover Iraq at a call by Sadr, waged a demonstration demanding the withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country. It was branded by Sadr's followers as the one million person demonstration.

Meanwhile, the Sadrist parliamentary bloc launched a campaign to collect signatures from legislators for the U.S. forces withdrawal from Iraq. The campaign, as Sadrists claimed, succeeded in collecting 144 signatures for that purpose.

During the Friday speech given today, Sadr demanded his followers not to clash with Iraqi police and army forces noting that "such clashes give a pretext for the occupier's presence."

The Shiite cleric also called upon the Iraqi government to accelerate rebuilding the golden mosque blown up in February 2006 in Samarra and asked Samarra population to help it. "I call upon all our brothers in Samara town to help in rebuilding the holy shrines as it would represent the ground to shun sectarianism and to achieve the Iraqi people unity," Sadr said in a call to Samarra local residents.

Sadr also called upon Iraqi Sunnis to unite with the Shiites saying "the occupier differentiated between us and our Sunni brothers to weaken us. I hereby announce my preparedness to cooperate with them in all domains for the good of the Iraqi people."

Meanwhile, the Shiite cleric criticized what he said "the government's endeavors to bring Baathists back to power" threatening to be apart from the government if "it did so." "It is that kind of false promises given by the U.S. administration like those of ridding the Iraqi people of dictatorship," said Sadr in reference to the U.S.-backed reconciliation with Baathists.

Today's appearance made by the outspoken Shiite Cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was the first over the last three months amid reports that he had left Iraq to neighboring Iran.