Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani warned on Friday from using political violence as a means to eliminating rivals.
“There are many means of violence, including political violence used by some to reach political goals, such as killing opponents, threatening them and ruining their reputation,” Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Karbalai, Sistani’s representative, said in the Friday sermon delivered from Karbala.
Sistani’s warnings came in light of a political crisis in Iraq over disagreement on some ministerial positions.
The country’s two powerful Shiite factions are at loggerheads over the defense and interior ministries, paralyzing efforts to form a government six months after the elections.
A vote in parliament to fill the two ministries in Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi’s cabinet has been repeatedly delayed over disputes between cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and the leader of the Iranian-backed Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri.
Last Monday, Sadr urged the Prime Minister to swiftly present the rest of his cabinet line-up to parliament for approval, without naming controversial figures.
“You must not yield to what is going on behind the scenes,” Sadr told Abdul Mahdi.
The dispute between the two groups could get blown out of proportion, leading to street protests.
“If Bina (Amiri’s bloc) ignores us, then we will resort to all possible options including mobilizing the street,” Reuters quoted a member of Sadr’s alliance as saying.
On Thursday, a commander in Sadr’s Saraya al-Salam (Peace Brigades), Hussein Hijami, was shot by unknown gunmen in the al-Shuala area on the northern edge of the Iraqi capital.
“Hijami’s killing is certainly part of the political violence which threatens civil peace in the country,” former head of parliament's security and defense committee Hakim al-Zamili told Asharq Al-Awsat Friday.
