Karbala Friday Prayer Leader:

Refugees can return to areas liberated from ISIL

Rasa – Ayatollah al-Sistani’s representative praised the Iraqi army’s liberation of Ramadi from the clutches of ISIL Takfiri terrorists and emphasized the need for refugees to return to liberated areas.

News ID: 3748

Date: 01 January 2016 - 17:38

RNA – During his Friday prayer sermon delivered to a large and fervent crowd of believers in the Iraqi city of Karbala's Holy Shrine of Imam al-Husayn, Hujjat al-Islam Abdul-Mahdi al-Karbala’i stated that with dedication and exemplary courage, the city of al-Ramadi was besieged by the victorious warriors and liberated.

“This victory is a sign of the national will and belief in patriotism to defend Iraq and its sanctities until death,” he said.

He added that in the past few months the army, Popular Mobilization Forces and tribal forces fought a battle of attrition against the Takfiri terrorist group in Ramadi which led to their loss of power and by the grace of God, the city was eventually liberated.

“This liberation invalidated the claims of critics who said that the Iraqi army did not have sufficient willpower to achieve a major victory in Ramadi,” he said.

Hujjat al-Islam Karbala’i praised the strong will of the Iraqi forces in the battle against ISIL and congratulated them for the victory they obtained.

He expressed regret over ISIL’s widespread destruction of Ramadi and urged the army to take advantage of ISIL’s psychological and military crisis and to prevent the enemies’ plots to harm the innocent people in the previously-occupied territories.

In light of the new Christian year, he urged Iraqi and foreign politicians to start 2016 by learning from past events in the region and Iraq.

Hujjat al-Islam Karbala’i pointed out that there is no doubt that the spread of corruption and mismanagement among Iraqi politicians provided the background for the growth of ISIL.

He added that the only way to establish good governance is to create equality among all people, which presently doesn’t exist.

The Iraqi scholar emphasized on the need to restore stability to the liberated areas and to implement plans to develop these areas, particularly basic infrastructure and services such as hospitals, schools and power plants, to provide for the return of IDPs to their former homes in coordination with the security forces.

He added that the government must ensure that liberated areas will not fall back into the hands of terrorists and that members of the Takfiri movement cannot create danger in the areas that they dominate.

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