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| Iraq |
| Iraq's top Shiite cleric to let govt decide on US pact |
| 2008-11-15 |
| Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric will leave it to the government to decide on a controversial US military pact, but associates of the reclusive leader said it must respect Iraqi sovereignty. Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani -- revered as the highest religious authority by Iraq's Shiite majority -- rarely involves himself in politics and usually communicates his views only through associates. "The Guide (Sistani) called for general elections which produced the country's government and the parliament," a religious official close to Sistani told AFP on condition of anonymity. "It is their constitutional responsibility to decide on the agreement." US and Iraqi negotiators have been struggling to conclude a wide-ranging accord to govern the presence of more than 150,000 US-led troops in the country after their current UN mandate expires on December 31. Sistani's opinion on the pact could be decisive for the country's main Shiite political bloc, which holds 86 seats in the 275-member national assembly and has expressed reservations about the draft agreement. Another official close to Sistani insisted that the cleric had not seen the agreement but that he was familiar with its main points. "The Guide has not received a copy of the agreement and is not going to intervene on its components. He has only received the key points, and the rest is for those who will make the decision," the official said. "But if the agreement touches the sovereignty of Iraq the Guide will intervene and make his opinion clear," he added. The cabinet was expected to vote within days on the latest draft of the agreement, which would have US-led forces withdraw from all Iraqi cities by June 2009 and from the rest of the country by the end of 2011. The two sides have gone back and forth on other key details of the accord, including legal immunity for US troops and contractors and demands that the United States promise not use Iraq to launch attacks on neighbouring states. |
| Posted by:ed |