The vote was in large part the culmination of political jockeying by Ayatollah Sistani , the venerable resident of Najaf , the holy Shiite city in southern Iraq .
Iraq /location/location/contains Najaf
DT NN VBD IN JJ NN DT NN IN JJ NN IN NNP NNP , DT JJ NN IN NNP , DT JJ JJ NN IN JJ NNP .
Iraq
LOCATION
Najaf
LOCATION
/location/location/contains