I no longer have power to save Iraq from civil war, warns Shia leader [View All]

[ECH1969]

The most influential moderate Shia leader in Iraq has abandoned attempts to restrain his followers, admitting that there is nothing he can do to prevent the country sliding towards civil war.

"I will not be a political leader any more," he told aides. "I am only happy to receive questions about religious matters."

Hundreds of thousands of people have turned away from al-Sistani to the far more aggressive al-Sadr.

Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's former special representative for Iraq, said the decline in Ayatollah al-Sistani's influence was bad news for Iraq. "It would be a pity if his strong instincts to maintain the unity of Iraq and to forswear violence were removed from influencing the scene," he said.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/09/03/wirq03.xml