Top Shiite cleric does not authorize signing the security pact after local polls-representative

KARBALA/IraqiNews.com: A representative of grand ayatollah Ali Sistani on Friday denied the top Shiite cleric authorized signing the security pact with the U.S. after the provincial elections. “His eminence Sistani did not authorize signing the security agreement with the U.S. after next local elections,” cleric Ahmed al-Safi, representative of Sistani, said in a Friday preach in Karbala. Washington and Baghdad are currently negotiating a security pact that would decide the future of US forces in Iraq after the present UN mandate expires at the end of this year. The UN mandate currently acts as the legal framework for the presence of foreign forces in the violence-wracked country. “Nothing has changed so far and his teachings emphasized the importance of keeping the national fundamentals of Iraq’s sovereignty,” al-Saf noted. Media reports had reported Sistani authorized signing the U.S.-Iraq security pact after the local elections scheduled to be held by January. “Those who reported these statements are fishing in troubled waters and they sought instigating conflicts,” he added. The security pact has triggered long-time debates in political and religious circles. A number of of Shiite clerics deemed the agreement illegal and legitimising the U.S. stay in Iraq. Although Sistani view has not been shown clearly, but he called in a statement that the parliament is authorized to decide signing the agreement AM(S) 1