“We want you to live with us without separation,” Al-Sadr wrote on Twitter, addressing Kurdish politicians. “This is the highest meaning of love to be together in a unified Iraq,” he added.

“We know that among you are some who love moderation and do not differentiate between a Kurd or an Arab except with piety and patriotism,” he continued, calling on the Kurds to “save Iraq and leave the quota and all the corrupt, and renew the covenant for Iraq with new faces who would preserve the country’s prestige, raise its status and cherish its people.”

According to Middle East Monitor al-Sadr’s message comes two days after his similar letter to Sunni Iraqis urging them “to provide public interests and to rely on the competent technocrats to lead the country in the next stage.” He also advised them to stay away from “treachery of treason and corruption deals”.

Iraq is among the world’s most corrupt countries, according to the Transparency International Index, over the past years.

Corruption is one of Iraq’s main challenges. According to the UK-based International Centre for Development Studies, $120 billion simply disappeared during the term of office of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

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