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Iraqi Ayatollah To Leave Constitution To Politicians

8 February 2005 -- A spokesman for Iraqi Shi'a Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said today that al-Sistani is not demanding the country's new constitution be based on Shari'a, or Islamic law.

Hamid al-Khafaf said al-Sistani maintains his previous position that the new constitution should respect the Islamic cultural identity of the Iraqi people.

Al-Khafaf said al-Sistani has not changed his position on that and that the details of the constitution are a matter for elected representatives of the Iraqi people.

A recent report in "The New York Times" said that leading Shi'a clerics in Iraq, including al-Sistani, were pushing for the new Iraqi constitution to be Islamic in nature.

(dpa/Reuters)

Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org