Iraq's Top Shite Cleric Backs New Prime Minister

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's top Shite cleric, has backed Prime Minister-designate Nouri al-Maliki's plan to disband militias, unlike Hamas and Fatah.

(AP/Yahoo)The endorsement of al-Maliki's plan came during a meeting in Najaf with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. The ayatollah told al-Maliki, a Shiite tapped last weekend to form a government, that security should be his top priority.

"Therefore, weapons must be exclusively in the hands of government forces, and these forces must be built on a proper national basis so that their loyalty is to the country alone, not to political or other sides," a statement from al-Sistani's office said.

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