Iraq's PM visits top Shi'ite cleric Sistani

NAFAJ, Iraq, Apr 27 (Reuters) Iraq's Shi'ite Prime Minister-designate Nuri al Maliki, who is forming a government of national unity, today met with top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, one of Iraq's most influential men.

The reclusive Sistani, who lives in the holy city of Najaf, has been vital in helping restrain Shi'ite anger in the face of Sunni bombs that nearly pitched Iraq into full-scale sectarian civil war.

Although he shuns overt political engagement, Sistani's word holds wide sway in Iraqi politics and leaders frequently travel to Najaf to seek his advice. A Reuters reporter saw Maliki outside his house today.

Maliki, designated by parliament to put together a unity government seen as the best hope to avert all-out civil war, met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in Baghdad yesterday.

Rice and Rumsfeld flew to Baghdad to show Washington's support for Maliki.

REUTERS KD PM1428