|
Sistani heads for treatment in UK
Iraq's most influential Shia leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has left Iraq and is on his way to London to be treated for a heart condition. Airport officials in Beirut said the ayatollah arrived on a chartered jet from Iraq before departing for London. The ayatollah lives in the holy city of Najaf and has been receiving treatment from cardiologists. But aides have said they fear the flaring violence in Najaf could hamper his access to proper medical care. "The ayatollah suffered a health crisis related to his heart a few days ago," his spokesman in Beirut Sheik Hamed Khafaf told the Associated Press.
"A team of specialist doctors are treating him and providing care," he said of the ayatollah who is the prime marja, or spiritual reference, for Shias everywhere. He added that although the ayatollah needed special treatment he was not in a deteriorated state. Fighting broke out once more in the ayatollah's home town of Najaf on Thursday. The reclusive al-Sistani, who is in his 70s, is one of only five living grand ayatollahs and the most senior Shia cleric in Iraq. The UK Foreign Office confirmed that Ayatollah Sistani was visiting the UK on a private medical trip for which the UK would make no special security arrangements.
A Foreign Office spokesman said there was no political aspect to the trip but that the FO had helped out with the logistical elements like visas.
Posted by: Steve 2004-08-06 |
|||
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=39864 |