Two items:

First, there is this, from the Post:

A top aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani was stabbed to death in what Sistani's supporters believe was a warning to Iraq's senior Shiite cleric, authorities said Saturday.

Earlier, this, from IraqSlogger, under the headline “Sistani Rep Slams Iraqi Government”:

Representative of the top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in Karbala criticized on Friday Iraqi officials for the deteriorating services and security all over the country and warned against what he described as new growing "dictatorships" during the Friday prayer today in the Shiite shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala.

"Seven months have elapsed from 2007, yet the citizen finds no improvement in the services rendered to him," Sheikh Ahmed al-Safi addressed worshippers in the Shiite sacred shrine of Imam Hussein in Karbala...

"There are new dictatorships in Iraq, similar to those of the past, they want to demolish all highly qualified people. These dictatorships now have established themselves well in the governmental departments where things are adapted to the way liked by the dictator official," the Sistani's representative.