BAGHDAD, June 30 (UPI) -- Iraq's highest religious leader Monday issued a religious ruling, or fatwa, opposing U.S. plans to set up a council of Iraqis to draft a new constitution.
Instead, Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali Sistani called for general elections to choose representatives of the Iraqi people. That is seen as a major blow to plans by U.S. administrator Paul Bremer to create a new political council as the next step towards a future Iraqi government.
The BBC said Sistani is Iraq's highest religious authority and his fatwas are followed by many Shia Muslims, who are in the majority in Iraq.
Previously, American forces in Iraq have praised the cleric for his moderate views. The BBC noted Sistani believes in separation of religion and state and rarely makes political statements.
In his latest edict, he says it is unacceptable for the occupation authorities in Iraq to appoint members of a political council to draft a new constitution.
