BAGHDAD, Feb 19: Influential Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said he rejects the Iraqi constitution backed by his partners in the biggest parliamentary bloc, threatening to reignite one of the country’s most explosive issues.

“I reject this constitution which calls for sectarianism and there is nothing good in this constitution at all,” he told Al Jazeera television late on Saturday.

Sadr, a rebel leader turned political kingmaker, said the charter was unacceptable, complicating efforts to form a government more than two months after parliamentary elections.

“If there is a democratic government in Iraq, nobody has the right to call for the establishment of federalism anywhere in Iraq whether it is the south, north, middle or any other part of Iraq,” said Sadr.

His stand could give political ammunition to Iraq’s Sunnis, who want major amendments to a charter they fear will give Shias and Kurds too much power and control over oil resources.—Reuters