BEIRUT, Lebanon: Lebanon's top Shiite Muslim cleric issued a religious edict Monday banning attacks on public utilities in Iraq, mainly the oil industry, urging Iraqis to solve their problems through dialogue.

Iraqi-born Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who enjoys some influence among Iraq's Shiites, said in a statement that Iraqis should work for stability in their country otherwise they will be helping the "occupation ... that wants to dominate Iraqis and stay longer in Iraq in order to serve its dangerous project in the region."

Fadlallah's comments came after radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Shiite militiamen off the streets after days of clashes with government forces in southern Iraq, mainly in the oil-rich city of Basra.

Fadlallah, issued a fatwa, or religious edict, banning attacks on public utilities.

"We stress the contents of the fatwa that it is prohibited to attack properties and public wealth, whether it is oil wealth or other types of wealth, and attacks on people, their lives, security, stability, property or honor," he said.

Since hostilities began Tuesday, two oil pipelines were attacked in Basra.

The first attack occurred Tuesday and targeted a domestic pipeline that links the Noor oil field in the southern Maysan province to the refinery in Basra. Two days later, a bomb hit the Zubair-1 pipeline that sends crude oil from the Basra Zubair oil field to tanks for Iraq's two exporting terminals on the Gulf.

Fighting between al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and Iraqi and U.S.-led multinational troops has raged since Tuesday, when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki began military operations against the group and vowed to remain in Basra until the mission was accomplished. The battles there sparked violence in other southern cities and in Baghdad.

"We urge everyone to maintain law and avoid any disorder because it is prohibited for anyone to cause disorder," the black-turbaned Fadlallah said in a statement released by his office.

"We call upon all Iraqi factions, groups and sides not to protect anyone who tries to harm people's personal interests and we call on everyone to start a constructive dialogue," he said.

A key adviser to al-Maliki, Sami al-Askari, said Monday that the military operations in Basra will end within days. He said most of Basra was "under control" a day after al-Sadr took his Mahdi Army off the streets.

Shiites makes 60 percent of Iraq's 27 million people. Shiites are also the largest sect in Lebanon.

Fadlallah, 72, an Iraqi-born Lebanese who lived for more than 30 years in the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, has followers in Iraq and communicates with Shiite clerics in the country. He enjoys wide respect among Shiite Muslims ? though his popularity in Iraq is unclear ? and he is the top religious authority for Lebanon's 1.2 million Shiites.

Fadlallah has been a harsh critic of U.S. policies in the region. He strongly opposed both Saddam Hussein's regime and the U.S.-led war against Iraq.

He has condemned kidnappings of foreigners by militant Islamic groups in Iraq and terror attacks targeting civilians in Arab and Western countries. -AP