Pyongyang, August 12 (KCNA) -- Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraqi Shiite cleric, on August 7 issued a statement warning the U.S. forces present in Iraq.

If the U.S. forces stay past the Dec. 31, the withdrawal deadline, in Iraq, we will attack them by military means, the statement warned.

Even a limited training mandate would not be acceptable to his Shiite militia, it noted.