|
|
Article: Deal to end Najaf battle displays Iraqi Shiite ayatollah's power.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- August 29, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Aug. 29--BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A frail, white-bearded cleric barely out of his sickbed proved to many Iraqis that he could accomplish in a few hours in Najaf what the tough-talking interim Iraqi government, backed by the full might of the American military, could not do in three weeks.
In ousting a young, rebellious cleric from one of the holiest sites in Iraq on Friday, 73-year-old Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani needed nothing stronger than his influence. For those who envision a secular, democratic future for this country, that is a chilling fact. In the story of the three-week siege of Najaf, they say, is stark evidence that in the new Iraq the power of faith so far ...