Sunni clerics name new religious leader in Iraq

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Sunni clerics named a moderate scholar as their new religious leader on Monday, a day after his predecessor died of a heart attack. The chairman of the Sunni Endowment, the organization that oversees mosques and the religious establishment, said Abdul-Malik al-Saadi will be the new mufti, or religious authority, for Iraq's Sunni Arab minority. "The (Sunni) clerics have met and have selected Dr. Abdul-Malik al-Saadi because he is moderate and he avoids extremes and extremism," said Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie, the head of the endowment. He added that al-Saadi would be able to coordinate among the various factions in interpreting Islamic doctrine.