All followers of radical Iraqi cleric Moqtada al-Sadr must sign a strict code of conduct after repeated complaints over rogue elements of his militia, a document seen by AFP showed Thursday.

Signed by the anti-US Shiite cleric and distributed throughout his organisation, it calls on all its members to put their name to it, promising "before God, his prophet and Moqtada al-Sadr," to "do no harm to any Iraqi or non-Iraqi, either by word or deed."

It's eight points prohibit "lying, gossiping, having a bad character and using foul language."

Signatories also must promise "not to violate the principle of religion," and to set "education and moral perfection" as a goal.

They must consider "as enemies only the United States, Britain and Israel, and take into account that military resistance should be conducted by specialists."

Before it was disbanded in 2008, the Mahdi Army numbered some 60,000 fighters with fierce loyalty to Sadr, and was the torch bearer of the Shiite "resistance" after the 2003 US-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.

But the militia, whose members were recruited from disadvantaged neighbourhoods, was accused of having committed crimes against Sunni Muslims, and that it was a cover for common criminals.

"The purpose of this document is to remove from the Sadrist movement those who do not follow the right path, to compel signatories to conduct themselves properly and not commit harmful acts that have happened recently," a Sadrist official said.

On July 10, Sadr said he would not revive the Mahdi Army, complaining it had been infested with "criminals."

Sadr said his decision about the Mahdi Army came after a recent incident in the Amin district of eastern Baghdad where a militiaman in a local dispute called in gunmen who shot and killed a resident and wounded another.

"I am innocent of all the abuses that people commit in my name," Sadr had said.

The Sadrist movement has 40 deputies in parliament and seven ministers in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national unity government.

earlier related report
Twin bombings in Saddam hometown kill 12
Tikrit, Iraq (AFP) July 28, 2011 - Twins blasts Thursday involving a car bomb and a suicide attack in Saddam Hussein's hometown in central Iraq killed 12 people near a bank and a market, as shoppers stocked up for Ramadan.

Another 31 people were wounded in the blasts in Tikrit, officials said, ahead of the holy Muslim fasting period and with just months to go before US forces must withdraw completely from Iraq.

"A car bomb exploded outside the Al-Rafidain Bank in the centre of Tikrit, and one minute later a suicide bomber exploded his vest as people gathered," said Dr Raad al-Juburi, head of the health department in Salaheddin province, of which Tikrit is the capital.

He gave a toll of 12 people killed and 31 wounded, saying three soldiers were among the dead.

A military official confirmed the death toll but put the number of injured at 33. He said four soldiers were among the dead, and that the attack occurred at 11:45 am (0845 GMT).

The bank had earlier been crammed with soldiers waiting to withdraw their salaries but they had been told to leave because the money had run out, the official said.

A witness said the state-owned bank is close to the city's wholesale food market, which was crowded with people shopping for Ramadan that begins early next week.

"A booby-trapped (vehicle) exploded at a parking lot next to the bank. When people gathered, a suicide bomber exploded his vest," said a policeman at the scene. He said nine parked cars were also damaged, together with several shops in the market.

Police cars were roaming the streets of Tikrit, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north of Baghdad, blaring through loudspeakers that the streets were closed to cars, and only pedestrian traffic was allowed.

"I wanted to go and help, but I couldn't because soldiers fired their weapons into the air to warn us not to go near the attack site," said 32-year-old Mohammed Abdullah, whose store lies 20 metres (65 feet) from where the scene.

Two other attacks in Tikrit this month killed 36 people, and one on March 29 on the Salaheddin governorate offices and claimed by Al-Qaeda killed 58.

Tikrit is one of the strongholds of the Sunni insurgency and the hometown of dictator Saddam Hussein who was ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion.

Meanwhile, in Baghdad's northern Waziriyah neighbourhood, seven people were wounded by a car bomb that destroyed 11 liquor stores. Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol, and militants are particularly sensitive to this during Ramadan.

Violence has steadily been rising in the past few months as the 47,000 US troops still stationed in Iraq begin packing up to leave by the end of the year from the country they invaded in 2003 to topple Hussein.

June was the deadliest month so far this year for the number of Iraqis killed, and the bloodiest in three years for US forces, who lost 14 soldiers in attacks.

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