Rivalries Pose Threat to Iraqi Shiite Leaders

A mob surrounded the home of Iraq’s top Shiite Muslim leader and demanded that he and other religious leaders leave the country, the latest instance of bitter rivalries erupting in the holy city of Najaf, supporters in Kuwait said Sunday.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani said that the “lives of the great religious authorities in Najaf are threatened,” according to a statement issued on his Web site.

The report pointed to the fissures among Shiite factions in Najaf and underscored the difficulties facing a new U.S.-led interim administration for Iraq. On Thursday, a mob in Najaf hacked to death a Shiite leader who had recently returned from exile. Shiites make up about 60% of Iraq’s 24 million people.

Said Mohammed Baqer Mehri, who heads the Congregation of Muslim Shiite Ulama in Kuwait, said he had been told by fellow Shiites in Najaf that “a mob” surrounded Sistani’s house Saturday. The demonstration ended, but the threats remained, Mehri said. He said his group also feared for the life of Ayatollah Mohammed Said Hakim.

He said the mob included agents of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party who “want to stir up trouble to prove that the coalition cannot maintain security.”

Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens, a U.S. Central Command spokesman, did not immediately confirm the incident but said it was not connected to the military.

“That’s the citizenry, and if that’s the case, they have to take responsibility for themselves to a greater extent,” he said of the reports. “It just shows that there’s a lot of work left to do in reestablishing law and order.”