Shiite religious leader threatens: Extremists will shake the ground under their feet

Shiite religious leader Moqtada al-Sadr has vowed to "shake the ground" under the feet of Sunni extremists whose offensive is underway in Iraq.

Sadr, whose followers have long fought against US forces during the Iraq war, also opposed US military advisers meeting with Iraqi commanders, AFP reported.

In a speech broadcast by Iraqi TV from the holy Shiite city of Najaf, he also said that he supports "international support for the Iraqi army only from those countries that were not the occupiers," according to AFP.

The first US troops assigned to assist the Iraqi army in the fight against the rising Sunni extremist insurgency arrived in Baghdad yesterday and began operations, the Pentagon announced.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected the possibility of forming a government of national unity to counter the offensive of Sunni extremists, who have seized a significant part of Iraqi territory.

"The call to form a government of national unity is a coup against the constitution and the political process," Maliki said in a televised address, AFP reported.

US officials recently called on Maliki, who is a Shia, to form a government that will include both Sunnis and Kurds.