In an interview with the Lebanese daily al-Nahar, Iraq Mufti Sheikh Rafi' Taha al-Rifa'i characterized the situation in Iraq as "very critical; it would not please a friend."
He said that the religious parties in Iraq, in all their forms, "have proven their failure in Iraq because they could not for once disassociate themselves from loathsome sectarianism" which has ushered in to Iraq nothing but blood and destruction.
These parties are supported and controlled by foreign forces which advance their own agenda in Iraq, he said.
Source: Al-Nahar, Lebanon, February 7, 2010
