The death toll from days of violent demonstrations across Iraq surged to 46 on Friday, most of them killed in the last 24 hours, as unrest rapidly accelerated and the country’s most powerful cleric placed the blame squarely on politicians. In a rare intervention, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose word is law for most of Iraq’s majority Shi’ites, called on protesters and the security forces to avoid violence. But he also ordered political factions to respond to protest demands. “It is sorrowful that there have been so many deaths, casualties and destruction,” Sistani said in a letter read out by his representative Ahmed al-Safi during a sermon in the holy city of Kerbala. “The government and political sides have […]