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Battle over cleric's statement
NAJAF, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi television has aired what it said was a fatwa from five prominent Muslim clerics calling on "the Muslim nations to stand with Iraqi people and fight with all your strength to drive the invader out from Islamic Land." After the fatwa's reading, Iraqi TV broadcast a recorded message on Friday from an unnamed cleric who called on Iraqis to "do their duty before God." The fatwa (religious edict) appeared to be a response to Thursday's announcement by a coalition spokesman that Iraq's pre-eminent Shiite cleric had been freed from house arrest in Najaf and issued a fatwa calling on Muslims not to resist. But Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani was also reportedly one of the five to issue Friday's edict, and had reportedly issued similar edicts last week and in September 2002. The cleric seen on Iraqi television was not Sistani. Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said Thursday that Sistani, who he said "had been placed under house arrest... for a considerable period of time," instructed "the population to remain calm and to not interfere with coalition actions." "We believe this is a very significant turning point," Brooks said, "and yet another indicator that the Iraqi regime is approaching its end." A spokesman for the London-based Al-Khoei Foundation, founded by an earlier Iraqi grand ayatollah, told CNN that Sistani had issued a fatwa calling on Muslims to respect public places, stay inside, not loot stores and not to resort to other acts of violence. The spokesman said he had heard reports from Najaf of a more specific resolution but had no confirmation of it. DenialNot long after Brooks' statement, a spokesman from Sistani's Najaf office said it was not true and issued a denial purportedly from the grand ayatollah. Almost simultaneously, the commander of U.S. troops in Najaf received word that Sistani was willing to meet with him, but asked that the troops first secure his compound about midway between the soldiers' position and the sacred Imam Ali Mosque, which houses the tomb of the Prophet Muhammed's son-in-law. The troops started toward the compound to comply with his request, but a once friendly crowd became alarmed, apparently believing the soldiers wanted to approach the shrine. Earlier warm greetings were replaced by angry shouts and gestures as hundreds of people attempted to block the soldiers' way. Clerics appeared with a message from Sistani, but their message was drowned out. "They afraid," one told the soldiers. "You are Christians. They don't want to let you inside the holy Imam Ali." The commander instructed his troops to stay calm. "They've got to understand that he wants us here," he said, referring to the Grand Ayatollah. "Smile, relax," he urged his troops. His soldiers got on bended knee, their weapons pointed toward the ground. They did everything soldiers could do to appear less hostile. Some in the crowd responded in kind, sitting down, making it clear they too had no hostile intentions. But the commander determined that the potential for confrontation was too great. "Turn around," he ordered his men. "Just turn around and go." The soldiers returned to their compound.
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