Iraq's Sadr bloc has said that the US assassinates Iraqi political figures who oppose signing the controversial SOFA with Washington.

A member of the Iraqi parliament from Sadr bloc, Fawzi Akram, told the al-Alam television channel that the blast which killed Saleh Auqaeili, a top member of Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc, was in line with a US plot to assassinate Iraqi politicians opposed to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

Saleh Auqaeili, who was a senior member of the Sadr political bloc, died of injuries in hospital after he was wounded seriously in a bomb attack near Baghdad's Sadr City on Thursday.

The Sadr bloc is a vocal critic of US military presence in Iraq and vehemently opposes signing the SOFA security pact with the US, arguing that it would "turn the country into a US colony.”

The SOFA, if signed by Iraq, will allow the US to set up permanent military bases in the country and will grant US forces immunity from legal prosecution inside their bases in Iraq.

Fawzi Akram added that the US was responsible for the assassination of al-Auqaeili since the blast occurred in an area under the control of US troops.

Talal al-Saadi, a leader of the Sadr movement, also blamed US forces for the assassination of the Iraqi lawmaker, calling the blast a pre-planned plot to kill al-Auqaeili who opposed signing the SOFA.

The SOFA agreement has sparked outrage among Iraqi citizens and clerics who consider it a pretext to allowing permanent US bases inside Iraq.

AR/CW/DT