Maybe this Iraqi Prime Minister would be good as a mediator between the two parties.
Saudi-Iran tensions sharpen Iraq's sectarian divide
By Ahmed MaherBBC Baghdad correspondent
Image copyrightAP
Image captionSaudi Arabia's execution of Nimr al-Nimr triggered outrage on the streets of Baghdad
Within hours of Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the highest Shia authority in Iraq spoke out against what he called the shedding of "pure blood".
"He is a martyr. May his soul rest in peace," Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said, indicative of the esteem in which the late sheikh was held in Iraq.
For many Shia there, Sheikh Nimr was an icon for his vocal support for anti-government protests by fellow Shia in Sunni Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.
No wonder they took to the streets of Baghdad in their thousands after Sheikh Nimr, along with 46 other people, was executed on 2 January, all convicted of terrorism.
With the devastating civil war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shia in 2006-2007 still fresh in people's minds, his execution threatens to inflame Iraq's sectarian tensions.
Continue reading at:
Saudi-Iran tensions sharpen Iraq's sectarian divide - BBC News
Saudi-Iran tensions sharpen Iraq's sectarian divide
By Ahmed MaherBBC Baghdad correspondent
- 3 hours ago
- From the sectionMiddle East
Image captionSaudi Arabia's execution of Nimr al-Nimr triggered outrage on the streets of Baghdad
Within hours of Saudi Arabia's execution of prominent Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, the highest Shia authority in Iraq spoke out against what he called the shedding of "pure blood".
"He is a martyr. May his soul rest in peace," Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said, indicative of the esteem in which the late sheikh was held in Iraq.
For many Shia there, Sheikh Nimr was an icon for his vocal support for anti-government protests by fellow Shia in Sunni Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province.
No wonder they took to the streets of Baghdad in their thousands after Sheikh Nimr, along with 46 other people, was executed on 2 January, all convicted of terrorism.
With the devastating civil war in Iraq between Sunnis and Shia in 2006-2007 still fresh in people's minds, his execution threatens to inflame Iraq's sectarian tensions.
Continue reading at:
Saudi-Iran tensions sharpen Iraq's sectarian divide - BBC News
