Shia leaders in two countries struggle for control over Iraqi state

Iraq’s revered ayatollah Ali Sistani is pitched against Iran’s ayatollah Ali Khamenei in battle for influenceWhen Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, failed again this week to replace his corrupt cabinet with a new breed of reformists, the impact reverberated far beyond Baghdad.A hundred miles south, in Najaf, ayatollah Ali Sistani seethed with anger. The 86-year-old cleric, the most revered figure among Iraq’s majority Shia sect, has staked his name on Abadi establis