The movement of Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr will not compete in local elections under its own name but join with other groups and ask its followers to vote for those candidates, Sadr officials said today.
Salah al-Ubaidi, the chief spokesman for the anti-American cleric, denied reports the group was boycotting the polls, which are scheduled for October 1st and seen as the battleground for a power struggle that could redraw Iraq's political map.
The move by the opposition Sadr bloc could be a way to get around a draft elections law that is expected to ban any group that has a militia from taking part in the polls.
Shia Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has demanded Sadr disband his Mehdi Army, a militia blamed for widespread sectarian attacks in 2006 and 2007.
Sadr has refused, but has urged his followers to observe a truce with Iraqi forces in the wake of crackdowns that targeted the militia in Baghdad and Shia southern Iraq.
Iraqi forces are preparing for another offensive, this time in the southern city of Amara, which is a Sadr stronghold.
Ubaidi said the movement had made the decision because it did not want to "politicise" the polls. He did not elaborate.
"We will not take part in the coming elections under the name of the Sadr bloc list. We will call our candidates to participate in joint lists and we will call our followers to vote for them," Ubaidi added.
The movement's candidates could join with the heads of tribes, technocrats, politicians or social figures, he said.
The Sadrists boycotted the last provincial elections in January 2005 and have been expected to make gains at the expense of Shia parties now supporting Maliki, especially in the south where there has been much criticism of the performance of local government.