Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has praised Iraqi top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for his remarkable role in preserving Iraq’s national unity, and painting a true picture of Islam in the face of attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
…
The following is the translation of a short report the daily released on the comments of the Italian premier:
As for brutal attacks at the hands of ISIS terrorists and Baathist loyalists since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003, he acknowledged that despite such heinous crimes, not only have top Shiite clerics not persuaded Shiites to take revenge on followers of other faiths, but they have treated them as equals and part of their own community.
