Iraq’s Parliament Speaker visits Najaf to meet Supreme Shiite Authority, Sistani:

NAJAF / IraqiNews.com: Iraq’s Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeify, has arrived in the holy city of Najaf on Wednesday to meet the Supreme Shiite Authority, Ali al-Sistani, and disciss the issues related to the Province, according to a Parliament source. “Parliament Speaker, Usama al-Nujeify, has arrived in Najaf early today (Wednesday), leading a parliamentary delegation, including the former Chairman of the High Criminal Court, Judge Jaafar al-Mousawi, to meeting the Supreme Religious Authority, Sayyid Ali al-Sistani,” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. Najaf‘s Provincial Council’s Media Director had stated earlier that Nujeify would visit Najaf on Wednesday to meet Sistani and attend a Parliament’s session to discuss issues related to the Province. Nujeify told a news conference after a previous visit to Najaf last December, where me met Sistani: “The instructions of the Supreme Religious Authority (Sistani) had a strong impact to protect Iraq’s unity and independence, through his confirmation on the national partnership and necessity for participation by everybody to take decisions, especially in the field of security and services,” adding that “Sistani had reiterated necessity to activate the role of the Parliament, through cooperation with other authorities, according to the Iraqi Constitution.” Najaf, the center of the Province carrying the same name, is 160 kms to the south of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. PT / SKH 646