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Radical clerics add fuel to fire in Iraq crisis

Amid the advancement of militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and other armed groups in Iraq, radical Sunni and Shiite clerics are issuing statements that flare up the sectarian tension in the country.
Egyptian-born Muslim cleric Yusuf Al-Qaradawi arrives at the London Central Mosque, July 9, 2004. Leading Muslim theologian Qaradawi, who condemned the September 11 attacks and the Bali bomb but condones some suicide bombings, will have all his speeches monitored whilst he is in Britain, Britain's Home Secretary David Blunkett said on July 7. REUTERS/Peter Macdiarmid  PKM/ASA/WS - RTR67I1
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The shock in the wake of the outbreak of violent acts in Iraq and the fall of entire cities under the grip of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), as well as the emergence of different militant groups taking over territories in various cities, have upset the Iraqi scene. Perhaps the most dangerous part is the confusion that has accompanied the religious discourse of the two main sects in Iraq, the Sunnis and Shiites.

A war of fatwas and sermons has filled the Sunni and Shiite streets, mostly focusing on sectarian mobilization led by extremist clerics who have become part of the problem, instead of contributing to the solution.

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