New Iraqi PM must be chosen without foreign interference, top Shiite cleric Sistani says

Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim cleric said on Friday that a new prime minister must be chosen without foreign interference after the incumbent Adel Abdul Mahdi announced his resignation a week ago.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani urged political leaders to abandon partisan politics in choosing a new head of government.

“We hope a new head of government and its members will be chosen within the constitutional deadline” of 15 days since the resignation was formalized in parliament on Sunday, a representative of Sistani said in his Friday sermon in the holy city of Kerbala. “It must also take place without any foreign interference,” he said.

Abdul Mahdi pledged to step down on Friday last week after Sistani urged lawmakers to reconsider their support for the government following two months of anti-establishment protests where security forces have killed more than 400 demonstrators, Reuters said.