Iraq's top Shiite cleric on Sunday endorsed early parliamentary elections set for June 2021, following his first meeting in nearly a year with a senior United Nations official.

"The parliamentary elections scheduled for next year are of great importance," said Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, 90, in an online statement after the bilateral meeting.

Iraqis should be encouraged to participate "widely," he added, while warning that failing to hold the polls on time or in a free and fair way would "threaten the unity and future of Iraq's people."

Sistani does not make public appearances and typically issues a weekly Friday sermon through a representative.

He avoids meeting political figures, but has traditionally made an exception for the UN, which is seen as unbiased.

This year, the cleric has been quieter than usual -- weekly prayers stopped in late February with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, which also sparked fears for Sistani's health.

On Sunday, Sistani hosted the UN's top representative in Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in his modest home in the shrine city of Najaf, 10 months since their last meeting.

"If done in the right way, in the right and credible way, they could open an important chapter for the country," she said, referring to early elections.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhemi had announced in late July that Iraq would hold parliamentary elections nearly a year early, seeking to make good on one of the main promises he made when he came to power earlier this year.

Sistani has himself been a proponent of early elections since last year, when unprecedented anti-government protests rocked Baghdad and the Shiite-majority cities of the south.

The cleric had been increasingly sharp in his criticism of the current fragmented parliament, which was elected in May 2018.

The 329-member body has voted in favour of electoral reform ahead of next year's elections but has yet to decide on key elements, including district size.

Iraqis dig up Covid-19 dead to rebury in family graves
Najaf, Iraq (AFP) Sept 13, 2020 - Mohammad al-Bahadli dug into Iraq's hot desert sand with bare hands to reach his father's corpse.

"Now he can finally be with our people, our family, in the old cemetery," 49-year-old Bahadli said, as relatives sobbed over the body, wrapped in a shroud.

After restrictions were eased for the burying of those who died of the novel coronavirus, Iraqis are exhuming the victims to rebury them in their rightful place in family cemeteries.

For months, families of those who died after contracting Covid-19 were barred from taking the body back to bury in family tombs, for fear the corpses could still spread the virus.

Instead, the authorities established a "coronavirus cemetery" in a plot of desert outside the shrine city of Najaf, where volunteers in protective gear carefully buried victims spaced five metres (16 feet) apart.

Only one relative was permitted to attend the speedy burials, which often happened in the middle of the night.

Victims from all religious sects -- both Shiite and Sunni Muslims, as well as Christians -- were buried there.

But on September 7, Iraqi authorities announced they would permit those who died after contracting Covid-19 to be relocated to the cemetery of their family's choice.

Many of those buried under the emergency rules came from other parts of the country.

"The first time, he was buried so far away," Bahadli said of his 80-year-old father's funeral rites.

"I'm not sure it was done in the proper religious way."

- Grave mix-up -

Iraq has been one of the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East by Covid-19, with more than 280,000 infections and nearly 8,000 deaths.

On September 4, the World Health Organization (WHO) said "the likelihood of transmission when handling human remains is low."

Days later, after pressure from families, Iraqi authorities announced they would permit bodies to be transferred only by "specialised health teams."

But the first re-burials proved chaotic.

At the "coronavirus cemetery" in the desert outside Najaf, hundreds of families began arriving late Thursday to dig up their family member and carry the body home.

They brought their own shovels, baskets to scoop away the sand, and new wooden coffins to carry the dead.

The sounds of fierce sobbing and mourning prayers mixed with the clinks of pickaxes echoed across the sand.

There were no medical professionals or cemetery guides on site to help families locate or properly excavate the bodies, an AFP correspondent said.

In some cases, families dug into a grave site marked with a relative's name, only to find an empty coffin, or to uncover the body of a young man when they were expecting to find the corpse of their elderly mother.

Other bodies were not wrapped in burial shrouds, required by Islam as a sign of respect.

The findings sparked outraged criticism of the state-sponsored armed group that had taken charge of the burials in recent months, with some angry relatives setting fire to the faction's base nearby.

- 'Haunting' -

"The grave-diggers don't have expertise or the right materials," said Abdallah Kareem, whose brother Ahmed died of complications from Covid-19.

"They don't even know how to locate the graves," he told AFP while tending to the grave.

Kareem, who comes from some 230 kilometres (140 miles) to the south in Iraq's Muthanna province, opted not to rebury his brother in case it violated religious edicts.

In Islam, the deceased must be buried as soon as possible, usually within 24 hours.

Cremation is strictly prohibited and reburials are virtually unheard of -- although not necessarily outlawed if the body is kept intact, a Najaf cleric told AFP.

Despite the complications, families were nevertheless relieved to have the closure that a traditional burial brought.

"Since my father was buried here, I keep replaying his words in my head before he died: 'My son, try to bury me in the family cemetery, don't let me be too far from my relatives,'" Hussein, another mourner who gave only his first name, told AFP.

The 53-year old dug up his father's body by hand to transfer him to the vast Wadi al-Salam cemetery, where millions of Shiite Muslims are buried.

"The dream that had been haunting me for these last few months has been realised," Hussein said.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Koala row threatens leader of Australia's biggest state
Sydney (AFP) Sept 10, 2020
A dispute over protection measures for Australia's endangered koalas threatened Thursday to topple the government of the country's biggest state. Angered by a new koala conservation law it says comes at the expense of farmers in New South Wales, the rural-based Nationals party withdrew its support for state Premier Gladys Berejiklian's governing Liberals. The move left Berejiklian with a minority government, lacking the numbers in parliament to pass legislation as the state battles to recover fr ... read more