Iraq's top Shiite cleric urges peaceful transition

Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric appealed to Iraqi politicians today not to make themselves "an obstacle" in the country's transition as the deadline looms for selecting the next prime minister.
The remarks by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, delivered by his spokesman, were another indirect appeal by the cleric to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to step down.
"The big challenges facing Iraq require that the next government command national and broad acceptance...To face the crises that are hitting the country," spokesman Ahmed al-Safi quoted the reclusive al-Sistani as saying.
"No one should make himself an obstacle in achieving national consensus," al-Sifi added during the sermon in the southern Shiite city of Kabala.

Al-Maliki, who has led the country since 2006, has insisted he remain in the post for a third four-year term. His bloc got the most seats in April's parliamentary elections but failed to get a majority, so he needs to build a coalition in order to govern.
The next government is expected to grapple with an unprecedented blitz offensive by Sunni extremists from the Islamic State group, which in June seized a large chunk of the country's north and west.

Iraq's leaders are under pressure to form an inclusive government that can draw Sunni support away from the insurgency.
But the Sunnis have long accused al-Maliki of marginalising their community, and even many of his Shiite and Kurdish allies say he has monopolised power.

Iraq's newly-elected president, Fouad Massoum, is required to select a prime minister from the largest political bloc by next today.
Al-Sistani's appeal came as the United Nations said that more than 1,737 people were killed in Iraq in July, making it one of the deadliest months of the year but marking a decline from the previous month, when the Islamic State militants swept across much of the country. The death toll in June stood at 2,400.
Still, July's toll -- which included an increase in killings in areas now under the control of the Islamic State -- was considerably higher than May's, when about 800 people were killed.

Al-Sistani denounced the targeting of holy sites today, saying Islamic State extremists are "alienating themselves from the humane, Islamic standards.