Sistani calls for immediate end to violence against demonstrators in Bahrain (Photo: Sistani.org)

Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali-al-Sistani criticized Bahrain authorities for using violence against pro-democracy demonstrators. He called for the immediate cessation of force, and for peaceful solutions to the problems faced in the country.

Hamed al-Khafaf, a spokesman for Sistani, said that the cleric was particularly concerned with the manner in which the government of Bahrain had dealt with demonstrators in recent days. Tens of thousands of Bahraini citizens have marched in the country’s capital, Manama, over the past week calling for reform and an end to discrimination against Shi’ites in the small Sunni-led Gulf country.

Sistani has in the past condemned Bahrain’s leadership for its treatment of the predominantly Shi’ite anti-government protest movement. The Shi’ite cleric is considered Iraq’s highest ranking religious figures, and an importance Shi’ite authority worldwide. He has played an increasingly influential role in Iraqi politics since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003.

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