Leading Shiite cleric backs reforms to calm Iraqi unrest

BAGHDAD — The top United Nations envoy to Iraq, seeking support for a road map to resolve deadly anti-government protests, said Monday that the country’s most powerful Shiite religious leader backs serious reforms but is concerned politicians will not carry them out.

At least 12 protesters were also wounded Monday in fresh confrontations with security forces in and around Khilani Square in Baghdad. Most were hit directly with tear gas canisters, according to security and hospital officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Four others were killed overnight in clashes in the southern city of Nasiriyah.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. Special Representative to Iraq, met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the Shiite holy city of Najaf to discuss the series of reforms put forward by the U.N. a day earlier.

“The marjaiyah made it clear that it supports the conduct of serious reforms in a reasonable period of time,” she said, using the Arabic name for al-Sistani’s authority. “Within that context, it welcomes the proposals of the United Nations, including the proposal for one consolidated electoral framework.”

“The marjaiyah also expresses its concerns that the political forces are not serious enough to carry out these reforms,” she added.

Hennis-Plasschaert said Sistani insisted there should be “zero” use of violence against peaceful protesters and that perpetrators “should be held to account without delay.”

On Sunday, the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq laid out a series of short- and long-term measures aimed at tackling protester demands, including electoral reform and anti-corruption initiatives.

More immediate measures included the release of peaceful demonstrators detained since early October, an investigation into...