First Sistani fatwas permitting attacks on US troops, now this:

(AKI) - The US soldier who shot a copy of the Koran should be punished as an example to others, according to a key Shia cleric sheikh Abdel Mahdi al-Karbalai.

Al-Karbalai, who represents the religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani, called for punishment in a sermon read to the faithful during Friday prayers at the central mosque of Karbala.

"As well as being expelled, that soldier should suffer an exemplary punishment in a way that is an example to others," the Shia leader said.

"What happened in Baghdad, where a solider from the occupied forces was discovered shooting a copy of the sacred Koran, was a grave insult to the feelings of Muslims."

The imam of Karbala, the holy Shia city, dismissed the excuses advanced by the US military to the Iraqi premier Nouri al-Maliki and the expulsion of the soldier in question.

"What that soldier did offended the feelings of all Muslims and not only those of Iraqis," he said. "For this, he must be tried in a way that is a warning for all the others to prevent this kind of thing happening again."