From Reuters via the Washington Post. Scroll down from the link -- it's the third entry:
A U.S. commander in the Gulf said on Thursday that a prominent Shi'ite Muslim cleric in the holy city of Najaf had issued an edict urging Iraqis to remain calm and not to hinder U.S. invading forces. "A prominent cleric, Grand Ayatollah Sistani, who had been placed under house arrest by the regime for a considerable period of time, issued a fatwa," Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told a news conference in Qatar.
Apparently the Saddamites had kept this guy cooped up for ten years or more. The US approached him respectfully and asked for his help and input. Seems to have paid off.
"And it was done this morning, instructing the population to remain calm and to not interfere with coalition actions. We believe this is a very significant turning point and another indicator that the Iraqi regime is approaching its end." A Reuters correspondent in Baghdad just one week ago saw a fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani still pinned to the door of a main Shi'ite mosque in the capital saying Iraqis would "stand together against any invasion."
| Things smell different when there's not a gun pointed at your head, don't they? |
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