Radical cleric Sadr meets top Iraq Shi'ite Sistani
Source: Reuters
NAJAF, Iraq, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Radical young Shi'ite cleric and militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr met the reclusive spiritual leader of Iraq's Shi'ite majority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al- Sistani, on Sunday, aides to Sadr said. The reason for their first meeting in more than a year was not clear. The talks at Sistani's residence in the holy city of Najaf are part of delicate power relationships among the Islamist leaders of Iraq's now dominant Shi'ite majority, all of whom acknowledge Sistani's role as patron of their movement. An aide to Sadr, Issam al-Moussawi, said the meeting was "cordial" and touched on "the security and political situation". Sadr's political bloc is part of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national unity government but has been boycotting cabinet and parliament for the past month in protest at Maliki's renewal of the U.N. mandate for the U.S. forces. Sadr's Mehdi Army militia is blamed by U.S. and some Iraqi officials for some of the worst sectarian violence afflicting Baghdad and other parts of the country, although Sadr himself has disowned groups carrying out death squad killings. Maliki announced on Saturday a major crackdown in Baghdad on armed groups "regardless of sect", suggesting he may be ready to move against some Mehdi Army groups after months of resisting pressure from Washington and minority Sunni leaders to do so. Sistani is the sponsor of the United Alliance bloc to which Sadr, Maliki and the other main Shi'ite political leaders belong. He has urged Shi'ites not to employ violence, although the rise in sectarian bloodshed over the past year has highlighted the limits of his authority.
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