Top cleric Sistani condemns use of force to disperse Iraq protest camps, calls for elections

Iraq’s leading Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has condemned the use of force to disperse protest camps across the country.

He also renewed calls for early elections to be held in a free and fair manner.

Sistani, who delivered his message through a representative at Friday prayers in the holy city of Kerbala, also “heavily condemned” US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan, Reuters reported.

Earlier this month, Sistani condemned the US-Iranian military confrontation taking place on Iraqi soil, saying it risked plunging the war-ravaged country and the wider Middle East into deeper conflict.