Iraq’s Top Cleric Says Government Must Genuinely Seek Change

Yemeni supporters of the Shiite Huthi rebel movement, some of them chewing Qat, a mild drug used daily by many Yemenis, raise their weapons during a rally to protest against a military offensive by a Saudi-led coalition, on August 24, 2015 in the capital Sanaa.(Mohammed Huwais /AFP/Getty Images)

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press

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August 28, 2015Updated: August 28, 2015

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BAGHDAD—Iraq’s top Shiite cleric says the government must show it is seeking genuine change to combat corruption and not just introduce temporary measures to placate the embattled nation.

In a message delivered by a representative in a Friday sermon, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani also cautioned protesters who have staged weekly rallies to press demands for reform. He warned against groups seeking to hijack their movement to further other interests.

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The comments, delivered in the holy Shiite city of Karbala south of Baghdad, came just hours before thousands of Iraqis were scheduled to rally in Baghdad and a string of other cities to demand better services and an end to corruption.

Followers of a radical, anti-American Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, are expected to join the rally in Baghdad’s central Tahrir square.