"Yesterday afternoon a number of tribal leaders entered Najaf," Mohammed Baqer Musawi al-Muhri told AFP.

He said the intervention by tribal leaders, who are mainly from the central Euphrates region, had put an end to the presence of roughly 50 armed men around the house of Ayatollah Ali Sistani.

The cleric has since been moved to an undisclosed location in Najaf, said Muhri, who earlier had said that Sistani was still inside his home but "out of danger".

"He (Sistani) will never leave Najaf, he has taken an oath to stay in Najaf" especially since the fall of the "tyrannical" Iraqi regime, Muhri said.

"We will demand adequate and proper protection for Sistani from the allied forces ... They are responsible for protecting him," said Muhri, echoing calls from other Shiite religious leaders.

But danger to Sistani was dramatically reduced by the tribal leaders' presence, he added.

Muhri said the armed men had gathered on Saturday and demanded Sistani leave Iraq within 48 hours.

He also said in a statement Sunday that the gunmen were from the same group that hacked to death prominent pro-Western Shiite cleric Sayyed Abdul Majid al-Khoei in Najaf on Thursday.

The killing came just a week after he returned to the city from London with the help of US forces who invaded Iraq.

Muhri said the tribal leaders wanted to ensure the safety of all religious clerics and leaders in Najaf, particularly Sistani.

The tribes come from areas in Iraq such as al-Shamiya and al-Abbas, said Muhri, who heads an association of Shiite scholars in Kuwait.

His earlier statement said the gunmen had given Sheikh Ishak Fayyad, an Afghan-born Shiite religious scholar also based in Najaf, the same ultimatum to leave Iraq.

But a spokesman for the accused group denied the charge, which had fueled speculation about mounting rivalry among Shiite factions after the downfall of Saddam Hussein's regime.

"I categorically deny (the claim) that ... (Muqtada) Sadr delivered an ultimatum to Ayatollah Sistani" to leave Iraq, Riyad al-Nouri told the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

Muhri said the group threatening the clerics comprised followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, the 22-year-old son of Mohammed Sadeq al-Sadr, a senior Shiite authority assassinated in 1999.

His statement also charged the group was targeting another Shiite cleric in Najaf, Mohammad Said al-Hakim, threatening unspecified punishment unless he pledged allegiance to Muqtada al-Sadr.

Hakim is the nephew of Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim, who heads the Tehran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), the main Shiite Islamist group that opposed Saddam's regime.

The accusations underscored inter-Shiite rivalries for religious and political supremacy in Najaf following the regime's collapse.

The US and the British coalition forces are responsible for the life of Sistani and other Shiite religious leaders in the city, his son-in-law living in the Iranian holy city of Qom told AFP.

"We are awfully worried ... and the US and the British forces are responsible for preserving the security of the Iraqi cities and we also hold them the accountable for anything that might happen to Ayatollah Sistani," said Hojatoleslam Javad Shahrestani.

"We have had no news of Ayatollah Sistani for the past nine days," he said.

Leading Saudi economist and Shiite figure Ehsan Bu-Hulaiga also called on the occupation authorities to protect Sistani.

"We have seen plenty of violations in Iraq, one of which is threatening the life of Sistani. Certainly the responsibility here lies on the US-British forces, the only authority in Iraq," Bu-Hulaiga said in a statement.

"Imam Sistani is a very respected Islamic cleric and has more than 100 million followers inside and outside of Iraq," said Bu-Hulaiga, a member of the Saudi Shura Council.

In south Lebanon, a senior Shiite figure called on the Shiites of Iraq to protect Sistani.

"We call on our brothers in Iraq to oppose the threats against our 'sources of reference' such as Imam Ali Sistani and the sheikhs Mohammad Said al-Hakim and Ishak Fayyad," said Sheikh Afif Nabulsi.

The chief Shiite theologian in south Lebanon, Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, has also urged Iraq's Shiites "not to contribute to igniting civil war and inter-clan disputes" in their country.

The US "occupiers" were "trying to ignite religious and clan wars" by exploiting the Shiites, he charged.

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