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A legislator from the Sadrist bloc, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr, on Friday accused the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, his Dawa Party and the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) of planning a military campaign to liquidate the Sadrists in Babel province.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim's "SIIC and the Dawa Party have held meetings with officers of the militias merged recently into security agencies to launch a military campaign outwardly to impose order and law but the real objective is to liquidate the Sadrist bloc," Ahmed al-Massoudi told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).

"Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is directly supervising this scheme with officers from the Dawa Party and the SIIC," he added.

Massoudi warned that the Sadrists would be targeted in Babel just like they were targeted in the provinces of Diwaniya, Kut and Karbala.

"The Sadrists, however, have many options that can alter the political reality in Babel and other provinces," said Massoudi, not elaborating on the nature of these "options".

"The Sadrists are targeted because they cling to Iraq's unity and reject occupation," he said, warning against "an explosion amidst the popular circles as a result of the pressures practiced against the Sadrists."

The Sadrists in the Iraqi parliament have 30 seats, in addition to two deputies representing the bloc's Risalyoun list, out of a total 275 seats.

The Sadrists entered parliament within the Shiite Unified Iraqi Coalition (UIC) during the legislative elections held by the end of 2005. They, however, withdrew from the UIC in mid-September 2007 due to what they described as "the insistence of some parties inside the bloc to marginalize the Sadrists."

For his part, a legislator from Maliki's Dawa Party, Ali al-Adib, rejected Massoudi's accusations, terming them as "bare of truth." He said the Dawa Party "has nothing to do with issues related to security whatsoever."

"If there is some security issue, then it is strictly the affair of the Iraqi security forces and army. There is a government, be it a central government or a local administration, that is responsible for maintaining security," said Adib, noting "the state's task is to track down whoever tampers with security."

Adib pointed out that Operation Fardh al-Qanoon (law imposing) is "going on in Iraq although security breaches still exist in many provinces. It is totally not allowed for someone to capitalize on any religious slogan or holy names to tamper with the national security."

Badr Organization, a member of the UIC, had denounced reports that it launched campaigns targeting the Sadrist bloc, terming the reports as "seeds of sedition."

"The Sadrist bloc, through the statements made by Sayyed Muqtada al-Sadr, has clearly indicated that it would not raise any arms or get involved in any act that would violate the law and that it has disowned (followers) whoever break the law," noted Adib.

The Dawa lawmaker said "whoever attempts to tamper with security is actually expressing himself only and this has nothing to do with the Sadrist bloc."

"The Sadrists make one of the active blocs on the Iraqi arena. The bloc is represented in parliament and neither the local administration nor the federal government can undermine it," he added.

Babel lies 100 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.