Word: sistani
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...just returned from exile in London. (At the time, al-Sadr told TIME that the bodyguards involved had been dismissed before the assassination and that he had nothing to do with the killing of al-Khoei.) In April, al-Sadr's supporters surrounded the home of Grand Ayatullah Ali Sistani, supreme religious leader of Iraqi Shi'ites, and demanded that he leave the country. Sistani was saved by American troops...
...agenda pursuing the failure of the U.S.-authored transition in Iraq. Not only had the international body been engaged in humanitarian relief work, but De Mello and others had discreetly played a major role in helping Bremer manage the political transition. Key Shiite leaders, such as Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, have refused until now to even meet with Bremer, but they enjoyed cordial relations with De Mello - and the UN man was credited with having persuaded some key Shiite figures to serve on the Iraqi Governing Council appointed by the U.S. viceroy...
...unspoken argument for hand-picking Iraqis is Washington's paranoia that in free elections, Iranian-backed fundamentalists will dominate the Shiites, and as 60% of the population, the Shiites will dominate Iraq. The Bush Administration fears they will replace Saddam with Khomeini. But Grand Ayatullah Ali Sistani is the top Shiite cleric in Iraq and he opposes theocractic rule. Rather than leading chants of "Death to America," he's been working quietly to help restore order. But the moderates will lose if America is seen to be marginalizing the Shiites. They win if the Shiites see that America is helping...
...governing structure to emerge from a national assembly is facing mounting criticism from all sides. The most serious blow came this week in the form of a 'fatwa' by Iraq's leading Shiite cleric denouncing Bremer's plan and insisting that Iraqis chose their own leaders. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani is considered a moderate who has encouraged Iraq's Shiite majority to work with the occupation forces; his fatwa will make it extremely difficult for Bremer's plan to win popular acceptance...
...effective Iraqi social force on the ground in the wake of Saddam's ouster. On their orders, Iraqis in different cities (and in Baghdad's largest neighborhoods) have suppressed looting, mounted security patrols and restored basic services. But the Hawza comprises different factions: Its leader is Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who advocates keeping the clergy out of directly political roles. But that view is challenged by the followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, acting in the name of his father and uncle, both legendary anti-Saddam clerics murdered by the regime, whose agitation for the creation of an Islamic state...