Iran minister thanks Iraqi cleric for unity efforts

NAJAF, Iraq, May 27 (Reuters) Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met leading Iraqi cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani today in one of Iraq's holiest cities and thanked him for promoting unity between Iraq's groups.

The meeting with Sistani, who has emerged as perhaps the most powerful man in Iraq after Saddam Hussein's downfall, in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf was likely to fuel Sunni Arab fears that Shi'ite Iran was trying to gain influence in Iraq.

Mottaki, who had talks with Iraq's new, Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad on Friday, also visited another Shi'ite shrine city, Kerbala, before heading to Najaf, home to the shrine of Imam Ali, whose descendants founded Shi'ite Islam.

Shi'ite shrines have been a particular target of groups trying to foment violence between the Shi'ite majority and the Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam. Sistani has repeatedly urged Shi'ites not to get sucked into sectarian conflict.

After meeting Sistani, Mottaki thanked the Shi'ite religious establishment, or Marjaiya, which Sistani heads.

''I presented my gratitude to the Marjaiya for working for the unity of the Iraqi people,'' he told reporters.

''This visit (to the holy cities) raises my spirits,'' he said. His comments were translated into Arabic.

He also held talks in Najaf with Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical Shi'ite cleric who gained popularity by leading two armed revolts against US and Iraqi forces.

Sadr has joined Iraq's government but his Mehdi Army militia remains one of the most powerful forces on the streets. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has vowed to get rid of such groups.

Mottaki's convoy braved one of Iraq's most dangerous roads to reach Najaf, underscoring the city's importance.

His only other mode of transportation to Najaf would have been US helicopters used by other visiting officials but that appeared to be an unacceptable option at a time of high tensions between Tehran and Washington.

Mottaki's trip to Iraq was the second such visit from Iran since US-led forces overthrew Saddam and oversaw the election of an Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim leadership close to Iran.

But the Sunni minority are suspicious of non-Arab Iran, against which Iraq fought a war in the 1980s.

Mottaki's trip to Najaf may remind him of the long years the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini spent there in exile before launching Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution that rattled the Sunni-dominated Arab world.

These days, Sunni leaders accuse Tehran of fomenting unrest in Iraq to shackle US military power in the region and of coveting oil reserves in Iraq's Shi'ite south.

Mottaki reiterated Tehran's demands that crimes it says were committed during the Saddam era against the Islamic Republic be taken to court.

''Iran delivered a list of accusations to the Iraqi foreign affairs ministry against Saddam and his aides to be sent to the court to be discussed later,'' said a joint Iraqi-Iranian statement.

US and British officials accuse Iranian forces of providing bomb-making expertise and equipment to Iraqis, a charge Tehran denies.

REUTERS CH KP2041