Iraqi Shi’ite religious leaders’ restraining influence on militia groups is waning fast and senior clerics fear they are dragging Iraq into civil war, a source close to the clerical authorities said on Wednesday. Sounding the most urgent note of alarm yet from the Marja’iya, the religious establishment led by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the senior source told Reuters: “People are paying less and less heed to the Marja’iya every day because of how sectarian killings are affecting Shi’ite public opinion.” Full Story