And in other news from Iraq, Iraq’s leading Shiite Muslim cleric — Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani — has rejected a U.S.-backed plan to form a political bloc to isolate the anti-occupation Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr. The plan was disclosed in a leaked White House memo last month. The proposal would have split the United Iraqi Alliance, the dominant party in Iraq’s Parliament.
Leading Shiite Cleric Rejects U.S. Anti-Sadr Initiative
HeadlineDec 26, 2006