Tensions in Iraq were already running high with the execution of Saddam Hussein and the ongoing violence there. Now Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has scolded Sunni clerics for warning that militias were planning to attack Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad.

Reuters via Yahoo:

Iraq’s prime minister accused a leading Sunni Muslim clerics’ group on Friday of stoking tension by saying that militias were preparing attacks on Sunni neighborhoods in Baghdad.

The Muslim Clerics’ Association, an umbrella grouping of religious leaders of Iraq’s Sunni Arab minority, said in a statement on Thursday that militias linked to an unnamed political group were planning attacks.

“The statement from the Muslim Clerics’ Association is totally baseless and raises tension, and we hold the Muslim clerics responsible for any action that results from this,” said a statement from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s office.

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#civil war#nouri al-maliki#religion#shiite#sunni