Iraqi Shiite cleric Mahmoud al-Hassani Sarkhi has publicly expressed his support for the Syrian revolution against President Bashar al-Assad, warning that Islamist fundamentalists could try and replace the beleaguered leader’s oppressive stance with another form. Speaking exclusively to Arabstoday, al-Hassani Sarkhi said: “Bashar al-Assad is just a second copy of the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.” “There are plenty of people who hide behind religion but they’re not religious at all,” the cleric claimed. “Fundamentalists simply want to control others and subdue the majority for their own gains.” Denying recent allegations that his supporters were looking to seize holy shrines in Karbala and other Iraqi cities, al-Hassani Sarkhi told Arabstoday: “These are rumours and false accusations. Every citizen has the right to visit these shrines and benefit from their share of state revenues in religious tourism.” Sarkhi went on to celebrate Iraqi media for “disseminating ideas in favour of human beings, regardless of their creed,” meanwhile denouncing attacks on newspaper offices across the country. The Shiite cleric even supported Sunni demonstrations which have been sweeping Iraq since December, adding that protests “aim to end injustice and oppression suffered by the Iraqi people.” “Some people will try to exploit events for their own ends and partisan interests though,” Sarkhi warned.