April 3 - Shi'ite Muslim cleric asking his millions of followers to
remain neutral in any fighting has undermined Baghdad's hopes
of unleashing "holy war" to expel U.S. and British invaders,
experts believe.
According to experts on Shi'ite Islam, word from Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani was also likely to ease tensions
around Iraq's holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala, scenes of tough
fighting earlier in the week, and to limit the risk of clashes
between ordinary believers and U.S.-led soldiers.
"Neither the occupying army nor the local officials, in the
presence of such an ayatollah, have authority more legitimate
than his," said Hamid Dabashi, a professor at Columbia
University and an expert on the Shi'ites and their world.
Such "guidance" to followers should soothe fears of
religiously motivated attacks on U.S.-led troops, Dabashi said.
However, he said the call may be short-lived.
Murtadha al-Kashmiri, a London representative of Sistani,
said the cleric had asked followers not to take sides in the
fighting. He denied earlier reports he had issued a fatwa, or
formal religious edict.
"According to the information we received, there is no
fatwa referring to Americans or Iraq, but he has asked people
to remain neutral and not get involved," Kashmiri said.
Under Shi'ite religious law, the Ayatollah's authority
outranks that of Iraq's secular authorities, including
President Saddam Hussein, as well as that of any invading
general or army commander.
U.S. officers, who have given orders to avoid damage to
holy sites for fear of inflaming anti-Western sentiment among
Iraq's persecuted Shi'ite majority, welcomed the ayatollah's
position.

'SIGNIFICANT TURNING POINT'
"We believe this is a very significant turning point and
another indicator that the Iraqi regime is approaching its
end," Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told reporters in Qatar.
But Dabashi said the call could be a tactic, or even a
ruse, to protect the sacred sites and the true believers from
harm at the hands of the invading armies. Religious law allows
Sistani to resort to "taqiyah," or dissembling for the good of
the faith, to achieve those goals.
A fatwa from Sistani, issued earlier while he was under the
control of Iraqi government agents, directed the people to
resist efforts to topple Saddam.
Iraq's Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf said
that decree still stood. "As Muslims, their fatwa is to resist
the American mercenary forces -- they are evil -- and to
consider them invaders who should be resisted," he told
al-Jazeera television.
Earlier on Thursday, the Shi'ite Al Khoei foundation in
London said Sistani had issued a formal fatwa, directing
believers to cooperate with the American-led forces. It was not
possible to contact Sistani himself, who has until recently
lived under house arrest on Saddam's orders.
Ayatollah Sistani, whose followers pay him religious taxes
and look to him for spiritual and practical guidance, is the
supreme religious authority at the al-Hawza al-Ilmiyya
theological school in Najaf.
He is also responsible for the shrine of Imam Ali, the
son-in-law of the Prophet and the first leader of the Shi'ite
community -- a site sacred to Shi'ites around the world,
including more than 60 million believers in neighboring Iran.
Iraq is ruled by the pan-Arab Baath Party, which has
traditionally espoused secular nationalist ideology, but at
times of crisis Saddam -- himself a Sunni Muslim -- has invoked
religious faith to bolster his policies.
A Reuters correspondent in Najaf, about 100 miles (160 km)
south of Baghdad, said U.S. troops moved into the center of the
city, alarming some residents near the Ali shrine.
CNN footage showed soldiers trying to calm the crowd, who
apparently feared they were planning to seize the shrine. The
scene ended peacefully, as the U.S. troops gently pulled back,
and a cleric in a white turban tried to reassure the people.
U.S. military sources told Reuters members of the 101st
Airborne had been in talks with Sistani about how to govern
Najaf in the absence of pro-Saddam forces. "I think he realized
we really are here to help Iraqi people," said one source.