Iraq’s Sadr heads to Najaf after Beirut visit
BEIRUT: Prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr Tuesday departed Lebanon heading to Iraq following an unannounced visit to Beirut.
Sadr headed to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, a source at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport told The Daily Star.
He reportedly arrived in Beirut on April 10, in a discreet visit outside the media spotlight.
The nature of his trip remains unclear.
Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah had failed to strike a deal between Sadr and Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Sky News Arabia had reported that Sadr’s trip coincided with that of Maliki and the official representative of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Sayyid Jawad al-Shahristani.
A statement issued by Hezbollah’s press office Saturday said that Nasrallah held talks with Shahristani to highlight the general situation in Lebanon and the region as well as the political and religious developments.
The statement did not specify when the meeting took place, but said it was held in the presence of senior Hezbollah officials.
Shahristani had also met with Speaker Nabih Berri.
Politicians in Iraq are bickering over a plan to overhaul Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s cabinet by bringing in technocrats, in a bid to stem corruption.
Abadi has warned that the crisis could hamper the war against ISIS, which continues to control regions in northern and western Iraq.
Sadr headed to the Shiite holy city of Najaf, a source at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport told The Daily Star.
He reportedly arrived in Beirut on April 10, in a discreet visit outside the media spotlight.
The nature of his trip remains unclear.
Al-Mustaqbal newspaper reported earlier Tuesday that Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah had failed to strike a deal between Sadr and Iraq’s former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Sky News Arabia had reported that Sadr’s trip coincided with that of Maliki and the official representative of Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Sistani, Sayyid Jawad al-Shahristani.
A statement issued by Hezbollah’s press office Saturday said that Nasrallah held talks with Shahristani to highlight the general situation in Lebanon and the region as well as the political and religious developments.
The statement did not specify when the meeting took place, but said it was held in the presence of senior Hezbollah officials.
Shahristani had also met with Speaker Nabih Berri.
Politicians in Iraq are bickering over a plan to overhaul Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s cabinet by bringing in technocrats, in a bid to stem corruption.
Abadi has warned that the crisis could hamper the war against ISIS, which continues to control regions in northern and western Iraq.
