BAGHDAD, June 13 (UPI) -- Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is urging his followers to take up arms to protect Iraq from the Sunni militants' lightening offensive.
At Friday prayers in Karbala, Sistani's representative, Sheik Abdulmehdi al-Karbalai, delivered a rallying message: "People who are capable of carrying arms and fighting the terrorists in defense of their country... should volunteer to join the security forces to achieve this sacred goal."