Top Iraq cleric says new PM must be chosen without 'foreign interference'

Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani demanded Friday that the choice of a new premier for the protest-hit country be made free of "foreign interference."

Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi resigned last week after two months of mass protests slamming his government as corrupt, inept and beholden to neighbouring Iran.

Speaking through his representative in the shrine city of Karbala, Sistani said the Shiite religious leadership, or "marjaiyah," had "no role in any way" in discussions on a replacement.