Top cleric calls for new government in Iraq
Associated Press – By SAMEER N. YACOUB 23 minutes ago – 20.6.2014 – BAGHDAD (AP) — The spiritual leader of Iraq’s Shiite majority has called for the creation of a new, “effective” government, increasing pressure on the country’s premier as an offensive by Sunni militants rages on.
The call Friday by Gran Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani contained thinly veiled criticism that Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, in office since 2006, was to blame for the nation’s crisis over the blitz by the al-Qaida-inspired Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Al-Sistani’s message was delivered by his representative Ahmed al-Safi in the holy city of Karbala. He said the future government “should open new horizons toward a better future for all Iraqis.” Al-Maliki’s Shiite-led government long has faced criticism of discriminating against Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish populations. http://news.yahoo.com/top-cleric-calls-government-iraq-103927233.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter