Hawzah News Agency - (Beirut - Lebanon) - Head of the Higher Shia Islamic Council, Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan, denounced the offensive cartoon published by the Saudi newspaper, Asharq al-Awsa, to depict the Iraqi top cleric Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Sistani.

Sheikh Qabalan stressed that the abusive cartoon contradicts with the freedom of speech, objectivity, and truth, emphasizing that Ayatollah Sistani guarantees Iraq’s unity and sovereignty.

Sheikh Qabalan also recalled Sayyed Sistani’s role in defeating the terrorist groups in Iraq during the recent years.

In the same context, wide condemnations of the paper’s abuse have been issued in Iraq as political leaders and figures stressed that the depiction stems from the failure of Riyadh’s takfiri plots.