BAGHDAD, Iraq: A senior Iraqi cleric, Ayatullah Hadi Al-Mudarisi, urged candidates running in Iraq's next provincial election not to use religious symbols and images of clerics in campaign advertising.

Talking to Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa, Al-Mudarisi said: "I do not support the mixing of religion in politics and the use of religious symbols for political purposes".

Iraqi political parties should not use names or images of religious leaders to make political gains, the cleric said.

In recommendations issued early this month, the Iraqi government said mosques should be off limits for campaigning in key provincial elections scheduled for October.

The Iraqi parliament is expected to debate a ban on the use of photos of anyone but the candidates in election campaigns in the hope of preventing a repetition of the use of images of revered religious figures as was seen in the 2005 election campaign.

Early this month, the country's most revered religious figure, Al-Marje Al-Aala Ayatullah Sayed Ali Al-Husseini As-Sistani, prohibited the use of his name or image by any political group.