Sistani briefed on Iraqi SOFA

NAJAF, Iraq, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki met with the Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani Friday in Najaf to discuss the long-term security pact with the United States.

Though largely detached officially from the political dealings of Baghdad, the leading Shiite cleric is frequently consulted by several Iraqi lawmakers on important matters.

Maliki left for the holy city of Najaf early Friday morning to inform the cleric there was significant progress on the security deal set to replace the U.N. mandate for Iraq that expires in December, Voices of Iraq reported.

"If the government and the Parliament approve this, then Sistani will be convinced that is what the Iraqi people have decided," Maliki said.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Press TV reports U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte told the Iraqi premier that Washington would not accept any delays in signing the security pact, as doing so would threaten U.S. national interests.

For his part, Fawzi Akram with the Sadrist Movement of cleric Moqtada Sadr accused the United States of backing the assassination of Sadrist lawmaker Salih al-Ageili Thursday due to his opposition to the agreement.