Word: clericism
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...neighborhoods to launch suicide bombings against Shi'ite civilians. But over the past few months, al-Qaeda has been losing support among powerful leaders in the Sunni community. In an exclusive interview with TIME's Bobby Ghosh on May 12, Harith al-Dari, Iraq's most influential Sunni cleric and a vocal critic of the U.S., said al-Qaeda has "gone too far." He rejects al-Qaeda's vision of a fundamentalist state, saying, "Iraqis will not accept such a system." At the same time, he said, "Sunnis don't know who to believe or trust. They reject al-Qaeda...
...Qaeda has lost its most powerful friend in Iraq: Harith al-Dari, the country's most influential Sunni cleric and a prominent anti-American figure, has rejected al-Qaeda's vision of an Islamic state, telling TIME that Iraqis "will not accept such a system." In a sharp departure from his long-standing view of the terror group, al-Dari now says al-Qaeda has "gone too far." He also repudiates recent statements on Iraq by Osama bin Laden's deputy, saying: "Ayman al-Zawahiri doesn't represent Iraqis...
...Dari's change of heart on al-Qaeda is not necessarily good news for the Bush Administration. The Sunni cleric remains an implacable foe of the U.S. occupation, and of the Shi'ite-led Iraqi government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He is dismissive of the "surge" in Baghdad, insisting that no solution to Iraq's problems is possible while American troops remain - and rejects as "insincere and meaningless" al-Maliki's efforts to reach out to the Sunnis...
...senior cleric's attitude toward al-Qaeda has changed, al-Dari says he has not softened his view of the U.S. presence in Iraq. "The occupation cannot continue," he says. "As long as the Americans are in Iraq, there will be violence." Like other Sunni leaders - and some Shi'ite ones - he wants the Bush Administration to set a timetable for a withdrawal...
...Interior Ministry issued a warrant for his arrest. Ever since, he has divided his time between several Arab states, monitoring al-Maliki's actions from afar. Not even the Prime Minister's recent decision to allow many former Baath Party officials back into government has impressed the Sunni cleric. "They are inviting the former Baathists to register their names, but you know what will happen after that," he says, alluding to the murder of many former officials by Shi'ite death squads accused of operating under government protection...