Left I on the News

This is big news:

A senior Shia cleric has issued a religious decree prohibiting Iraqis from signing a controversial security agreement with the US.

Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Kazem al-Husseini al-Haeri issued a fatwa (decree) against the US-proposed Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

The cleric said that the agreement was in violation of the Islamic law, calling it a humiliating pact that would undermine Iraq's sovereignty.

And, just in the way of piling on:

Lebanon's top Shia cleric has warned the Iraqi government against signing a deal to 'legitimize' the presence of US troops in the country.

"No authority, establishment, or official or nonofficial organization has the legitimacy to endorse the occupation of Iraq, legitimize or extend it," Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah said on Tuesday.

The Shia cleric said that any security pact with the United States "should call for an imminent and unconditional withdrawal of US forces from Iraq."