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Shia leader cuts ties with Sadr
A senior religious leader in Iran has severed ties with radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr for encouraging his followers to fight US troops. Grand Ayatollah Kazem Haeri, one of the top authorities in Shia Islam, said Mr Sadr was no longer his representative in the holy city of Najaf. A spokesman said that Mr Sadr's actions no longer reflected the ideas of the Grand Ayatollah's teachings.
Speaking on behalf of the Grand Ayatollah in the Iranian seminary town of Qom where he lives, his brother, Mohammed Hossein Haeri, told the BBC that Mr Sadr had not been blamed for damage to Najaf's holy shrines during heavy fighting in August. The Grand Ayatollah wholly blamed the US and British for damage to the shrine, his spokesman said. But Mr Haeri stressed that direct fighting with US forces was not a correct move. The Grand Ayatollah is considered the successor of Moqtada Sadr's father, the Ayatollah Muhammad Sadeq Sadr, and acted as the younger Sadr's spiritual guide.
Posted by: Steve 2004-10-20 |
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