People across Iraq have taken to streets to protest a Saudi cleric's comments regarding the country's most influential cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Leading Wahhabi cleric Mohammad al-Ureifi in a Friday sermon had termed the Shia cleric an "atheist and debauched."
He also launched an attack on Iraq's Shias, accusing 65 percent of the country's population of conspiring with Yemen's Houthis against Saudi Arabia.
During demonstrations condemning the remarks, protestors called on the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to take a tough stance on the remarks.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has responded to the verbal attack on the Grand Ayatollah, who has played an increasingly prominent role in Iraq since 2003, when the US in led an invasion of the country.
Talabani has appealed directly to the Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz to intervene and stop insults against Iraq's revered Shia scholar.
"Insult to Sistani causes division and quarrels that spark the flames in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and other countries," he wrote in a letter to the monarch.
Holding considerable influence over Iraqi political developments, the Grand Ayatollah is consulted on major political matters within the country.
Prime Minister al-Maliki last week traveled to the holy city of Najaf to discuss preparations for the March parliamentary elections with Grand Ayatollah.