Sadr Orders Loyalists to Quit Iraqi Cabinet

Six Iraqi cabinet ministers are expected to resign today on orders from Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "We are going to declare our withdrawal from government because the prime minister does not want to make a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq," a Sadr official told the Guardian.

The resignations could further weaken prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. But they could also, the Washington Post notes, pave the way for a realignment of a cabinet paralyzed by sectarian squabbles. The 30 Sadr loyalists who are members of parliament  are not expected to resign. (More Nouri al-Maliki stories.)