Ayat Sistani returns, urges Iraqis to march on Najaf: “We are sorry your sacred shrine has been tarnished…”

By: Ismail Zabeeh

BASRA, Iraq: Ayatullah Sayyed Ali As-Sistani has arrived back in the country from Britain on Wednesday and urged Iraqis to march on the “burning city” of Najaf as fighting round one of the holiest shrines neared a climax, an aide to one of Sistani's representatives in the southern city of Basra said.

“Sayyad Sistani is in Basra and he is expected to spend the night in the city,” Abu Ayman said Wednesday.

Ayatullah Sistani hospitalized in London for a heart condition, returned Iraq via Kuwait, as a senior aide said he intended to “save the city” of Najaf.

“I have had the honour to meet and accompany Sistani, who arrived at the border at 11:00 am (0700 GMT),” said Brigadier General Ali Al-Musawi, head of Iraqi border police in Basra.

Earlier, Sistani was reported by one of his aides Hamed Al-Khafaf to have called on Iraqis to be ready to march on Najaf, to save the city.

He told the Arab satellite television station Al-Arabiya that As-Sistani “will lead thousands of followers on a march to holy Najaf.”

“We call on all Iraqis ... of Baghdad, Hilla, Karbala, Basra, Diwaniyah, Amara, Kut, Kirkuk, Mosul, Baquba and all Iraq, to be ready to return to Najaf,” said Khaffaf.

He said an announcement on the next steps will be made later.

“Now, our call to the prince of believers, Ali bin Abi Taleb, is as follows: We are sorry that your sacred shrine has been tarnished and violated. We are coming to your place, even with our dead bodies to erase the stains and for the dome of your mausoleum ... to continue to shine,” he said.

Meanwhile, doctors in a makeshift clinic, lacking surgeons and blood supplies, said at least 30 patients with serious injuries need immediate evacuation, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent -- one of only three journalists inside the shrine.

Dozens of other wounded civilians are feared trapped in nearby houses, unable to be brought to the shrine for fear of US sniper and tank fire.

“This is an urgent appeal to the ministry of health. We are asking you to send medical relief to the Old City of Najaf because there are many civilians, women and children, who need help,” said doctor Hussein Ali.

END