![]() ![]() The Persian-born ayatollah represents the conservative and mainstream of Iraqi Shias - rejecting the model of Iranian-style theocracy in favour of a separation between religion and politics. ![]() The ayatollah went into hiding - but he since re-emerged to wield enormous power over Iraq's Shia majority. In April 2003, just after the fall of the regime, club-wielding members of the Sadr Group besieged Ayatollah Sistani's house, demanding that he leave the country and that he recognise Moqtada Sadr as a marja. The low-profile approach he had to adopt to survive in Iraq has been criticised by younger, more radical Shia leaders such as Moqtada Sadr. He spent long periods under house arrest but avoided overt political activity. He is one of only five living grand ayatollahs and the most senior Shia cleric in Iraq.ĭuring the regime of Saddam Hussein, the elderly cleric lived in uneasy stalemate with the status quo. The reclusive cleric left Najaf for the first time in years for heart surgery ![]()
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