Posted on 07/25/2014 6:23:25 AM PDT by Citizen Zed
Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has called upon political leaders not to "cling" to their posts at the cost of political stability as pressure mounts for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down.
"The gravity of the phase Iraq is undergoing requires the concerned parties to bear their national responsibilities, which require sacrifice and not to cling to posts," the reclusive al-Sistani said in a statement read by his spokesman Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbalaie at Friday prayers in the holy city of Karbala.
"This government... should enjoy wide national acceptance so that it will be able to face the current challenges, correct the accumulating mistakes of the past and unite people in order to combat terrorism," the speech read.
(Excerpt) Read more at m.stltoday.com ...
Ala Saddam.
This is reported as an official statement by Sistani, which is rare for him to be direct and public on big issues. I doubt that such a statement would be issued without a lot of analysis and discussion first.
Perhaps there is a replacement for Maliki in the wings, who now has Sistani’s informal backing.
Only a new Prime Minister could avoid a continued bloodbath in Iraq, but no Prime Minister will be able to resolve things quickly. The big thing that a new PM might deliver is a deal with some major Sunni and/or Kurdish faction. They will still have to fight ISIS/Turkey/Qatar.
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