Another Shiite Cleric Assassinated

Above: Riyadh al-Nouri assasinated

Riyadh al-Nouri, director of al-Sadr’s office in Najaf, was assassinated by yet an unknown number of gunmen near his home.

Muqtada al-Sadr blamed the Americans and the U.S.-backed Iraqi government for the killing.

In his statement Friday, al-Sadr blamed the killing on “the hands of the occupiers and their stooges reaching out traitorously and aggressively against our dear martyr.”

But ironically, the Shiite leader called for calm.

“I call upon Sadrist followers to be patient.”