Sermon Report Friday September 28 2007
Grand Ayatollah Sistani’s representative has warned against proposals to divide Irak along ethnic and sectarian lines as a way out of the crisis facing Irak and cautioned Irak’s neighbours against supporting such schemes as they would negatively affect “their own security and stability sooner or later.”
During the second sermon of Friday prayers 28th September 2007 Sheikh Abdel Mahdi al-Karbalaie addressed the proposal sponsored by the American senators Biden and Brownback and agreed to by the American senate to encourage the break up of Irak.
Sheikh Abdel Mahdi al-Karbalaie explicitly warned warned all the political blocs in Iraki politics whether they were they were participating in government or not together with civil society organisations and the media as well as the citizenry from accepting or partaking in projects to divide Irak along ethnic or sectarian lines. He said that such projects were suspect.
In his condemnation of the proposal he said that it was in the interest of all Irakis to live safely in a unified Irak consisting of Arabs, Turkmen, and other ethnic groups, of Muslims – Sunni and Shia, of Christians, Sabians, Yezhidi, he called on all the sons of Irak to work to extricate Iraq from its ordeal, and called for the security agencies to attack any armed group, whatever their affiliation to withdraw Iraq from the cycle of violence.
Nor did he exempt “Irak’s neighbouring countries from this warning,” he said that he invited all the countries of the region especially Irak’s neighbours to “stand against all projects calling for the division of Irak.” He added that to do so was in their interests:
“It is in the interest of these nations, that Irak emerge from its ordeal, and to seeking to maintain the unity, stability and security of Irak, and not to give the projects a chance or to adopt them.”
He pointed out that such projects if implemented would affect their own security and stability “sooner or later”
because if implemented, such a project would lead to more strife, would the deepen the crisis within the country, would create more chaos, which would affect neighbouring countries.
Referring to the visit of green zone government Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi to Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani the Sheikh said that this was in line with and confirmed the Grand Ayatollah’s agenda of acting as would a parent towards all of the people of Irak. That the Grand Ayatollah was and would remain a custodian of the the Iraki people’s interests regardless of their affiliation and of sacrifices required [of him] to do so.
He denounced the assassination of scientific and academic personalities and of religious leaders saying that it led to a large loss making it difficult to repair defects within the social fabric and demanded that the security institutions of the State put a stop to this dangerous phenomenon, he called for these personalities to be protected. On this theme the Sheikh called upon the security services to hit armed groups hard irrespective of their affiliation and to reveal their identities to public opinion and not to leave them wreak havoc in the land.
Speaking of the situation in Baghdad he praised the efforts of Iraki security forces in bringing security to hot spots enabling refugees who had fled to return to their homes but sharply criticised the American policy of arming groups on the pretext of defending themselves. Citing the Saydia neighbourhood as an example he said that some believed they should cooperate with the Americans in this because it would protect them from from being killed and the homes of citizens from being burnt down by armed marauders.
He noted that many citizens and officials had tried to discourage the Americans from supporting armed groups without success. He called on them to renew their pressure on the Americans to halt this because they were using double standards and this method would not protect the citizenry but instead would increase the killings in mixed areas as the members of these non-government armed groups attack members of other communities leading to more more bloodshed and the displacement of people from their homes. That this policy being carried out by the Americans led to increased sectarian hostility and further exacerbation of the crisis.
