Hawzah News Agency (Karbala, Iraq) – A group of Iraqi tribes from the province of Babylon met with Shaikh Mahdi al-Karbalaee, the representative of Ayatollah al-Sistani and the custodian of Imam Hussain (as) holy shrine, in the city of Karbala on Wednesday, April 5.

During his speech addressing the Iraqi groups, Shaikh al-Karbalaee asked the audience to carefully watch over their children and protect them against the measures aiming to cause sectarian discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

He added, "Iraqi tribes play a major role in maintaining the national unity in Iraq, therefore, it's an essential duty for them to protect their families and children from getting involved in religious sectarianism and conflicts."

"Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani advised all Iraqi tribes in his statement to avoid using social media networks and watching satellite TVs that sow division among Iraqi groups; we must not let anyone cause discord between Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as all the other Iraqi ethnicities."

Shaikh al-Karbalaee concluded, "Iraqi people have paid a very high price for such sectarian measures during the past years; so we ask our people and tribesmen to act on the Shia sources of emulation's words and guidelines."