UN: Top Iraqi Shiite cleric backs reforms to resolve unrest

The United Nations top envoy to Iraq, seeking support for a roadmap to resolve massive anti-government protests, said Monday that the country's most powerful Shiite religious leader backs serious reforms but is concerned politicians will not carry them out.

At least 12 protesters were also wounded in fresh confrontations with security forces in and around Khilani Square, in Baghdad. Most were hit directly with tear gas canisters, according to security and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Four others were killed over night in clashes in a southern city.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. Special Representative to Iraq, met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the Shiite holy city of Najaf to discuss the series of reforms put forward by the U.N. a day earlier.

"The marjaiyah made it clear that it supports the conduct of serious reforms in a reasonable period of time," she said, using the Arabic name for al-Sistani's authority. "Within that context, it welcomes the proposals of the United Nations, including the proposal for one consolidated electoral framework."
Khazali, head of the Asaib al-Haq group, said the statement showed the idea of early elections was "primarily a U.S. project intended to be revived even though the religious authority previously rejected it."