KUWAIT - Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric may issue a religious edict declaring the June U.S. transfer of power to Iraqis illegal if an interim constitution article is not amended, a close aide said in remarks published on Saturday.

A GRAVE OBSTACLE TO US PLANS? Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric has urged the United Nations not to endorse the country's interim constitution, his office said on March 22, 2004, raising a potentially grave obstacle to U.S. plans to hand power to Iraqis on July 1. Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani told senior U.N. official Lakhdar Brahimi in a letter that unless the United Nations rejects the constitution, he would boycott a U.N. team expected to visit Iraq soon to advise on forming an interim government. Sistani is seen in this undated file photo. (Reuters)

"If article 61 of the interim constitution is not changed, Imam (Ayatollah Ali) al-Sistani may issue a fatwa declaring illegitimate all those (Iraqis) to whom power is transferred in June," said Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Mohri.

Sistani "may also order the Iraqi people to protest or carry out major popular demonstrations and sit-ins in all Iraqi cities," added Mohri.

The Kuwait-based aide to Sistani did not elaborate on the changes to article 61 wanted by Sistani.

Sistani had complained that veto guarantees enshrined in the constitution could constrain the power of the Shi'ites. He also says a proposed three-person presidential council, comprised of a Shi'ite, a Sunni and a Kurd, is a recipe for religious and ethnic squabbling. Mohri's comments, made at Friday prayers in Kuwait, were carried by Kuwait newspapers on Saturday.

The interim constitution and how to transfer power from U.S. occupation forces to a sovereign Iraqi government has been a subject of intense debate among Shi'ites, who comprise Iraq's largest ethnic group and were oppressed for decades under ousted former President Saddam Hussein's ruling Sunni minority.

The U.S.-appointed Governing Council signed the interim constitution at the start of March despite several delays and over the objections of Sistani. Washington has been pushing for progress on the constitution and the make-up of a new government in order to meet a June 30 deadline to hand over sovereignty.

Mohri also urged the United Nations and the U.S.-run Coalition Provisional Authority running Iraq not to disagree with Sistani, "or else there will be pandemonium in Iraq, and protests and chaos will be widespread."

Earlier this month, Sistani in a letter urged the United Nations not to endorse the interim constitution, raising a potentially grave obstacle to U.S. plans to hand power to Iraqis.

"Imam Sistani has decided not to meet with United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi until after declaring illegitimate the interim Iraqi constitution which divides Iraq," Mohri said.

© Copyright 2004 Reuters Ltd

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