Top Shiite cleric (Sistani) hits out at Iraq security contractors

[ProSense]

Top Shiite cleric hits out at Iraq security contractors

Fri Oct 12, 10:37 AM ET

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - Iraq's Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani lashed out at foreign security contractors on Friday accusing them of "belittling" Iraqis.

Sistani is demanding that the government pass legislation "that stops the shedding of Iraqi blood," his spokesman Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai said in the central shrine city of Karbala.

"The foreign security companies working in Iraq belittle innocent Iraqi citizens," a statement from Karbalai said.

"The occupying forces do the same in some of their operations, adding to the criminal acts of the takfiris (Sunni militants)."

The hard-hitting statement came after foreign security contractors Blackwater USA and Australian-managed Unity Resources Group were involved in separate shooting incidents in Baghdad in the past month in which, according to an Iraqi government toll, 19 civilians were killed.

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