Iraqi National Security Adviser says top cleric Sistani backs crackdown

Nouri al-Maliki, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, Moqtada al-Sadr,
Harith al-Dhari and Massoud Barzani

Grand Ayatollah Sistani

NAJAF, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Iraq's national security adviser said on Wednesday the country's most senior Shi'ite cleric had given his blessing to government efforts to disarm militants as it prepares to implement a major new security plan for Baghdad.

U.S. commanders and Iraq's once dominant Sunni minority have made clear they want any crackdown to include not just Sunni rebels but militias loyal to powerful Shi'ite Islamists.

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said he had briefed Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on the security situation in Iraq, and particularly in Baghdad, during a meeting in the holy city of Najaf.

The reclusive Sistani hardly ever makes public statements but is an influential figure behind the scenes and the spiritual leader of Iraq's majority Shi'ites.

"His eminence Sistani recommended an emphasis on the implementation of the law without any discrimination based on identity or background," Rubaie told reporters.

"He also asserted the need for weapons to be in the hands only of the state, and to disarm those holding weapons illegally," said Rubaie, who is himself a Shi'ite.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki announced on Saturday that he planned a major security plan to restore order in Baghdad, the epicentre of violence in Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush is due to announce later on Wednesday plans to send more troops to Iraq, most of which are expected to be deployed in Baghdad.

Read the rest at Reuters/Alternet

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