Sistani urges Iraqis to always ask U.S. forces ‘When will you get out of our land?’

By Abdul Raheem Ali, IOL Staff

BEIRUT, June 18 (IslamOnline.net) – Iraq’s supreme Shiite authority Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani exhorted the Iraqi people to resort to "civil Jihad" against the American occupation, his secretary Hamid al-Khaffaf told IslamOnline.net.

Khaffaf said that Mohammad Reda, the son of Sheikh Sistani, delegated a fatwa issued by his father to the Iraqis, to deal with the Americans but always ask them one single question: ‘When will you get out of our land?’

"This fatwa is a kind of civil Jihad approved by all Iraqi factions," Khaffaf said, noting that the Iraqi people should be first morally and psychologically prepared to resist the Anglo-American forces.

He cited, in this respect, the Lebanese resistance against the Israeli army in the south as a classic example.

Khaffaf said the Lebanese resistance in the south was ignited more than one year after the 1982 Israeli invasion, noting it lasted for more than 20 years but through different shapes and moulds.

He said that Sistani's reluctance to step out of his house despite the ouster of Saddam Hussein, who placed him under house arrest for six years, marks "a clear stance against the occupation, " said his secretary.

On Sistani's position regarding U.S. bids to impose a select interim Iraqi government, Khaffaf recalled that from the very beginning Sheikh Sistani made it clear that Iraq should be ruled by Iraqis but "not under the occupation administration."

He underlined that this "in no way means that the Shiite authority interferes in the type of the interim Iraqi government or wants to impose its own viewpoint. Iraqis should have their say on those who would represent them without any pressures."

On the Iraqi constitution expected to come to light in the days to come, Khaffaf asserted it should be drawn by Iraqis "otherwise it would be absolutely unacceptable."

Sistani's secretary said differences between Iraqi political parties are quite natural, noting that the Shiite authority give its opinion in this respect if asked to do so.

Khaffaf underlined that the Shiite authority interferes every no and then to calm the Iraqis down.

"Sheikh Sistani issued a fatwa, for instance, banning the random revenge of former Baathist officials and urged Iraqis to put them on fair trials lest such revenge would turn into an anarchy that would have serious consequences on the Iraqis themselves," Khaffaf recalled.

Citing another example, he said when the U.S. put forth the issue of a secular Iraq, Sheikh Sistani met with liberal leaders in the country and confirmed that Iraq is an Islamic country and any future Iraqi government should take this in its consideration.

On April 4, Sistani denied a Fatwa allegedly issued in his name, urging the country's Shiite community not to hinder the U.S. and British invading armies.

In a statement signed by the grand Shiite scholar, al-Sistani’s office in An-Najef categorically denied the "alleged Fatwa."