Sadr movement says may pull out of Iraqi coalition

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The political movement loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said on Tuesday it may pull out of Iraq's ruling Shi'ite coalition unless the government improves security and makes political progress.

"We are thinking seriously of withdrawing from the United Iraqi Alliance if the failure in the political process continues and if the government does not provide security and services for the citizens," spokesman Salah al-Ubaidi said.

If Sadr's supporters withdrew they would leave Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's alliance with just 83 seats in the 275-seat Iraqi parliament, but he would still be able to muster a small majority with support from Kurdish parties.

"The United Iraqi Alliance is suffering from various problems, which is also the major reason behind the setback in the political process," Ubaidi said after a news conference in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf.

"What we demand from the alliance is being more effective in pushing the political process forward," he said.

Six ministers from Sadr's movement pulled out of Maliki's cabinet in April over his refusal to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

But Ubaidi, speaking a day after the U.S. commander in Iraq General David Petraeus said U.S. forces could be reduced by about 30,000 by July, made no reference to the troops issue.

Maliki's government has faced sharp criticism in Iraq and the United States for failing to pass laws seen as crucial to reconciling warring Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs. A dozen ministers, Shi'ites and Sunnis, have left the cabinet.

Sunni speaker of parliament Mahmoud al-Mashhadani joined the criticism of Maliki's unity government, calling for "urgent steps to put an end to the continuous deterioration on the level of the government performance".

Mashhadani also called for a reduction in the number of ministries, which he said had been "expanded randomly to satisfy this party or that bloc".

Addressing parliament on Monday, Maliki acknowledged that the term "national unity government", used to describe his cabinet, had lost its meaning.

He blamed some parties for only wanting to veto decisions amid little sign that key laws demanded by Washington will be passed soon.

U.S. ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, speaking alongside Petraeus on Monday, told a U.S. congressional hearing that Iraq was making progress despite the violence and lack of broad political reconciliation.

"The cumulative trajectory of political, economic and diplomatic developments in Iraq is upwards, although the slope of that line is not steep," he said.