From IStock Analyst:Iraq's prime minister said Friday that the country's most influential Shiite cleric will leave the decision on the future of U.S. troops to the government and parliament - a step that could remove a major obstacle to a deal.
Tension rose in the Iraqi capital Friday as a car bomb killed 13 people in a Shiite enclave and thousands of Shiites marched to mourn the assassination of a lawmaker which their leaders blamed on the Americans.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shiite, journeyed Friday to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to brief Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani about the progress in talks with the U.S. on a security agreement governing operations of American forces starting next year.
After a 2 1/2-hour meeting, al-Maliki told reporters that the Iranian-born cleric would not oppose the security deal if it is approved by the country's democratic institutions - including parliament, which must ratify the pact.
"He does not want anything forced or imposed on the Iraqi people," al-Maliki said. "Rather he wants it to be done through the institutions. If the government and the parliament approve this, then (al-Sistani) will be convinced that is what the Iraqi people have decided." Al-Sistani's office had no comment.
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My Comment: He realizes that Iraq will need American soldiers in the country for a long time. They are the only guarantor of keeping the peace.
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