Iraq's Sistani into London for treatment

[psychopomp]

Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage


Iraq's Sistani into London for treatment
Fri 6 August, 2004 15:09

LONDON (Reuters) - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has arrived in London for treatment for a heart condition.

The influential cleric, who has been a voice of moderation in postwar Iraq, landed at Heathrow airport on Friday aboard a scheduled flight from Beirut.

The Middle East Airlines jet taxied to a point away from Heathrow's terminal three and Sistani, dressed in black robes, walked down the steps and into a limousine while armed police stood guard.

-snip

In June, Sistani gave conditional approval to Iraq's interim government, saying it lacked "electoral legitimacy" but was a step in the right direction.

His non-confrontational but firm approach to U.S.-occupation forces has appealed to many Shi'ites.

-more

< http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=560715§ion= >

This is interesting timing; Chalabi makes overtures to Sadr, who then renews fighting against U.S. forces. Critical to the Shia question is al-Sistani, who happens to leave the country for medical treatment just after fighting between U.S. forces and Shiites erupts full force.

Sorry if this has been posted already.




Related:


Chalabi, Spurned by US, Builds New Alliances

Edmund Blair

Reuters, Arab News

BAGHDAD, 1 August 2004 — Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi, the former exile once better connected in Washington’s corridors of power than the back streets of Baghdad, is building new, unexpected alliances. The US administration may have spurned its one-time ally, but Chalabi has found a new voice defending Iraq’s downtrodden Shi'a and speaks in respectful terms about one of Washington’s fiercest critics - Shi'i cleric Moqtada Sadr.

(Sadr) is a man who has a strong influence on a very large number of the people in Iraq who are dispossessed and he certainly has a role to play in the process that will be coming,” Chalabi told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.

He said Sadr supporters were among those who had joined the Shi'i Political Council, a grouping Chalabi helped set up to fight for the rights of Shiites, who were persecuted by Saddam Hussein and who are still among the poorest in Iraqi society.

-more

< http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/August/1%20n/Chalabi,%20Spurned%20by%20US,%20Builds%20New%20Alliances.htm >

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