Topic: Hardline Sunni Cleric Willing to Meet

Media: Associated Press
Byline:OMAR SINAN
Date: August 25, 2006


CAIRO, Egypt_A prominent hardline Iraqi Sunni cleric said Friday he was
willing
to meet with top Shiite religious leaders to end sectarian violence and help

move Iraq out of its internal crisis.

"We are ready to meet anybody who is sincere, and desires good things for
Iraq
and for Iraqis, in particular the supreme religious leadership in Iraq,"
Harith
al-Dhari, leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars, said on Al-Jazeera
television.

By supreme religious leadership, al-Dhari was apparently referring to Grand
Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most prominent Shiite cleric.

Al-Dhari, who spoke from Amman, Jordan, blamed the U.S. military presence
for
contributing to insecurity and worsening tensions between Sunnis and
Shiites.
Violence between the two Muslim communities surged after the Feb. 22 bombing
of
a Shiite shrine in Samarra.

Al-Dhari also blamed the crisis on "several" unidentified parties "working
under
the umbrella of the occupation to sabotage and destroy, driven by internal
and
external agendas."

Sunni politician Saleh al-Mutlaq described al-Dhari's comments as "a great
initiative" and expressed hope that Shiite religious leaders would respond.

"Making concessions today is better than being stubborn and watching the
country
go down the drain," al-Mutlaq told The Associated Press by telephone from
Amman.

"We said before that everybody should make concessions," he added. "I
believe
that this initiative deserves to be considered and accepted by the other
party.
This compromise is also a sacrifice. Iraqis and Iraq need to stop the
bloodshed."
________________________________________________