Najaf Friday imam calls for national handling of Iraq disarmament file

NAJAF, Iraq — The imam of Najaf's Friday prayer, Sayyid Sadruddin Kabancı, called during his sermon for Iraq's disarmament file to be handled through national will and kept free from foreign pressure. He described the file as one of the country's pressing issues, warning that both internal and external threats must be weighed and that safeguarding security, independence and sovereignty should remain the priority. Kabancı said the disarmament file should be assessed on the basis of religious authority rulings. On domestic matters, he urged the Martyrs' Institution to review its martyr lists and purge entries registered under false names, including Baathists and terrorists, while praising the institution's ongoing work on the issue. According to the institution's data cited by Kabancı, roughly 20,000 death certificates of unidentified individuals remain across the country, alongside 22,000 documented fraud cases. Among those listed as martyrs are 471 people identified as Baathists and 2,302 identified as terrorists. Turning to regional affairs, Kabancı criticized Bahrain's revocation of citizenship for 69 people, including some clerics, calling it an example of sectarian conflict in the region. He urged avoidance of incitement and sectarian polarization, calling instead for coexistence among all components in a spirit of Islamic brotherhood.