Iraq's most revered Shia cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani Monday met Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and expressed his support to Abadi's new government and its fighting against the extremist Islamic State (IS) militant group.
"Sistani welcomed and blessed the formation of the new government and stressed on the necessity for me to be open to other Iraqi factions to preserve the country's national unity," Abadi told reporters after the meeting with Sistani in the holy Shia city of Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.
Abadi said that the Grand Ayatollah supported Abadi's stance to reject foreign ground troops on Iraqi soil, Xinhua reported.
"We can liberate our territories by ourselves because there is no state in the world ready to fight instead of you and give you the land. We have to work hand in hand to liberate our territories, " Abadi said.
He also said that the Iraqi capital is secure enough against any possible attack by the IS militants, saying "our defensive lines are far away from Baghdad and there is security and intelligence efforts by the security forces to monitor the situation around the capital".
Abadi confirmed that the Iraqi security forces have recently carried out military operations and made some progress in their fight against the IS militants, including the latest advance of the troops toward the militant-seized town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad.
Abadi's meeting with Sistani is widely seen as gaining symbolic significance. The top Shia cleric has refused to receive all politicians during the past four years as a signal of discontent toward the way they run the country.
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Abadi is scheduled to fly to Tehran later in the day to meet with Iranian leaders to discuss bilateral relations and the international efforts to fight IS militants in Iraq and Syria.
Abadi's visit to Iran is his first since he took over the post of the prime minister. The significance of his visit to Iran comes as the neighbouring Shia state is playing a major role during the past months in helping Baghdad in its fight against the IS militant group.
Relations between the Shia Muslim country of Iran and the Shia-dominated government of Iraq have been picked up considerably since Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime was ousted in a US-led invasion in 2003.
Iraq and Iran fought a bloody eight-year war in 1980s, resulting in the loss of one million lives.