CNN REPORTS: IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: AL-SADR THREATS 'UNACCEPTABLE'

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari sternly rebuked Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's latest threats, Sunday.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/15/iraq.main/index.html

Supporters of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr rally against a U.S-Iraqi security pact on Friday.

Zebari said on CNN Sunday that al-Sadr's Friday claim that he is establishing a new fighting force to battle U.S. troops in Iraq "unacceptable."

"The Americans are there with the consent and the approval of the Iraqi elected government," he said. "Americans are there. They're our friends. They're sacrificing. So, therefore, whatever happens to them, actually, we should feel that pain. And this is unacceptable."

Over the weekend, Iraqi government troops prepared a new push against "outlaws" in the southern province of Maysan, north of Basra near the Iranian border. Those "outlaws" may trade medium and heavy weapons and explosives for cash rewards and amnesty until Wednesday, and the prime minister is also offering amnesty until Wednesday to suspects "who do not have the blood of innocent people on their hands," an official in the prime minister's office told CNN.