Sistani and Kirkuk

One flashpoint to watch in Iraq is the oil-rich northern city of Kirkuk, where thousands of Kurds were displaced by Arabs as part of Saddam's Arabization program. Now the Kurds want their homes and land back, but the Arabs who got moved in want to stay. A delegation of Kurdish religious leaders have now sought the intervention of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who said they need to work through the courts.  That's probably a really good sign, as it shows a highly respected figure lending legitimacy to Iraq's government institutions on a sensitive matter.