BAGHDAD, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Iraq's highest Shiite religious authority, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, returned home Wednesday after spending three weeks in Britain for medical reasons.
In Washington, Adam Ereli, a U.S. State Department spokesman, welcomed Sistani's recovery.
"He's a personage of high respect and reverence," Ereli said. "We are pleased that he has recovered from his surgery and we wish him luck."
Sistani is expected to return to Najaf, which has been the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. forces and the Mehdi Army militia of rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr for more than two weeks.
Iraq's official television quoted sources in Sistani's offices in Baghdad denying the ayatollah had called on Iraqis to march on Najaf to reclaim the violence-ravaged city and save it from complete destruction.
Ahmed al-Khafaf, Sistani's representative in Beirut, said earlier the ayatollah had called for the peaceful march to press both sides of the conflict to cease-fire and seek a peaceful settlement.
Ereli would not specifically comment on Sistani's rule in Najaf, but said: "We certainly welcome constructive engagement by all parties."
Sistani, 73, underwent heart and eye surgeries during his trip to England.
