Region | Iraq
Iraq's Sistani puts fate of US troops in lawmaker's hands
Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, signalled on Tuesday he would leave it to lawmakers to decide the fate of a pact allowing US troops to stay in Iraq for three years.
- Agencies
- Published: 15:56 November 18, 2008
Najaf: Iraq's most influential Shi'ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, signalled on Tuesday he would leave it to lawmakers to decide the fate of a pact allowing US troops to stay in Iraq for three years.
A statement from his office said parliament should decide whether to accept the deal but must approve it only if it restores Iraq's sovereignty.
"The representatives of the Iraqi people in parliament must take on a big responsibility in this case and each must be up to this historic responsibility before God and the people," it said.
US officials have interpreted Sistani's position as effectively stepping out of the political debate on the issue.
"Ayatollah Sistani's views are that the political leaders need to take political decisions," a senior US official involved in the pact negotiations said on Monday.
Iraq and the United States on Monday signed the long-awaited pact requiring Washington to withdraw its forces by the end of 2011, eight years after the invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein.
But the agreement must still be approved by Iraq's parliament, which the government views as likely next week.
Followers of Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr oppose the pact altogether, and the largest Sunni Arab bloc, the Accordance Front, says it should be put to the public in a referendum. But the main political groups in Prime Minister Nuri Al Maliki's ruling coalition have now lined up behind it.
Sistani, who was largely silent on the deal while it was being negotiated, wields vast influence on majority Shi'ites.
He stayed out of politics during Saddam Hussein's time but emerged as one of Iraq's most powerful men after the 2003 US-led invasion. A negative word from him could have been enough to sink the pact in parliament.
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