Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, on Wednesday arrived back in the country.
Al-Sistani, 73, crossed into southern Iraq from Kuwait about midday in a caravan of sport utility vehicles accompanied by Iraqi police and national guardsmen. The convoy quickly passed through the southern city of Basra, witnesses said. He had been in London for medical treatment since Aug. 6, one day after firefights erupted in Najaf.
"His eminence Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani will arrive in beloved Iraq in a few hours and he will return to the holy city of Najaf to rescue it from its ordeal," Hamed al-Khafaf said in an e-mail sent to The Associated Press. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
