LONDON, Aug 6 (AFP) - Shiite Islam`s most revered cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, was in Britain for medical treatment on Friday while fighting raged in his Iraqi base of Najaf, his entourage said.
Sistani, 73, arrived in London at around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT), where he is expected to undergo treatment for a heart condition.
"He has got a little heart condition and we are recommended that he has further examinations," the English-speaking secretary of Sistani`s London representative, Sayid Al-Kashmiri, told AFP.
"I can`t be more specific," the spokesman said.
Sistani had no plans to go into hospital over the weekend, he said.
"He`s resting now for a few days and then we`ll see what the team of doctors decide," he said.
Earlier, a spokesman from the Al-Khoei foundation, a London-based Shiite institution with which Sistani has close links, said the cleric had a problem with his arteries.
"I`ve heard three of his arteries are blocked," said Al-Khoei spokesman Eagle Abdlemalik. "I can`t say how long he is going to stay."
"He was persuaded to leave Najaf obviously because of his critical state of health," Abdlemalik said, adding that Sistani would be residing at his offices in north London during his stay in Britain.
During a stopover in Beirut on his way from Baghdad, Sistani met Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Lebanese Shiite faction Amal, officials in the country said.
Sistani is regarded by the US-led coalition as a key moderating force among Iraq`s Shiite majority.
Under his influence, the mainstream religious leadership in Iraq`s Shiite holy cities has distanced itself from radical Shiite leader Moqtada Sadr, whose militia has been engaged in fierce battles with US-led troops since Thursday.