Sayyed Sistani: Iraqi people will judge on US pact

 
Source: Presstv.ir, 29-11-2008
A representative of Iraq's top Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Husseini al-Sistani has expressed concern about the Washington-Baghdad pact.
Ahmad al-Safi, al-Sistani's representative in Najaf, said on Friday that the Iraqi people would judge on the US security pact in a referendum next year.
He added that Iraqi rule in the country is not complete while the occupiers are present. He highlighted that the government of Iraq has no authority to control the transfer of occupier forces into and out of Iraq, no control of shipments and the pact grants the occupiers immunity from prosecution in Iraqi courts.
Al-Safi urged all political blocs, both those who voted in favor of the pact and those who didn't, to work together and attempt to remove the concerns surrounding it.
On Thursday, Iraqi lawmakers endorsed the pact despite strong opposition from the 30-member Sadr parliamentary bloc. The decision will be put to the Iraqi people in a referendum to be held in 2009.
The pact envisages a US withdrawal by the end of 2011 and will govern the presence of some 150,000 US troops currently stationed in Iraq, awaiting the expiry of their UN mandate in December.
A day after lawmakers approved the deal, thousands of Iraqis rallied throughout the country to protest, torching US flags, chanting slogans and carrying black banners of mourning.
Outraged by parliament's move, Iraq's Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr declared three days of mourning after the ratification of the 'humiliating' US-Iraq security pact.