Tehran, April 4, IRNA -- The Tehran office of a Shiite religious leader based in Najaf, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Sistani, on Thursday did not confirm a recent claim by US on a fatwa (religious decree), attributed to him. "We pray God Almighty to save us of the damn of conspiracies and diversionary stances and protect religious values of Islam and Shiism for us," added the office in its statement, a copy of which was made available to IRNA on Thursday night. The statement said authenticity of the fatwa had been checked with sources close to the Najaf office of the ayatollah and they also did not confirm the report. Meanwhile, the Al-Khoie Foundation, based in London, too was not able to confirm the issuance of the latest fatwa attributed to Ayatollah Sistani.
Sounds like a disavowal to me. But Islamists never seem to have any problem with giving their word and then taking it away... |