Iraq’s top cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called on his compatriots to unite to confront the “big danger” posed by Islamic State militants, whose advances in the north have alarmed the Baghdad government and its ally the United States.
Sistani, delivering a weekly sermon through a spokesman in the sacred Shi’ite city of Kerbala, blamed Iraqi politicians for the crisis, saying they are motivated by self-interest.
