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Sistani's
spokesman, Sheikh Abdul Mehdi Karbala'i, did not explicitly name
Turkey, but a row over the deployment has badly soured relations
between Ankara and Baghdad, which denies having agreed to it.
Sistani also said Iraq's neighbours should not send any troops
to Iraq "under the pretext of fighting terrorism", except with
the approval of the Baghdad government.
"The Iraqi government is responsible for protecting Iraq's
sovereignty and must not tolerate and side that infringes upon
on it, whatever the justifications and necessities," Karbalai'i
said in a weekly sermon.
Ankara says the troops were sent as part of an international
mission to train and equip Iraqi forces to fight Islamic State.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday a withdrawal
was "out of the question for the moment".
Sistani urged citizens to show restraint towards foreign
residents of Iraq, after Shi'ite paramilitary groups threatened
to use force against Turkey and target its interests to force it
to pull out.
(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed; Writing by Isabel Coles; Editing by
Hugh Lawson)
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