Now this is strange...

A few hours ago I heard that there had been an attempted assasination of Iraqi cleric Al-Sistani... And now this:

Boston.com / News / World / Al-Sistani in good health after reports of assassination attempt:

"Arab media reported an attack attempt on Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani. But details on the alleged incident varied widely, and two bodyguards told The Associated Press there was no attack against the top cleric.

An AP reporter who visited the cleric's house in the southern city of Najaf at midday Thursday saw no sign of extra security or unusual activity.

The Arabic TV station Al-Jazeera had reported that unidentified gunmen fired on the ayatollah Thursday morning.

CNN reported that four attackers with AK-47s injured an unspecified number of al-Sistani bodyguards during an attempt on the prominent cleric's life at about 10 a.m. The report gave no details on how seriously the bodyguards were injured or the fate of the attackers.

But one of the ayatollah's guards, who identified himself only as Abu Mohammed, told AP by telephone from Najaf that ''there's no truth to this news'' of an assassination attempt, adding ''these are all lies.

''His eminence is in very good health and hasn't been subjected to any assassination attempts,'' he said. ''There haven't been any threats ... He hasn't been out and hasn't changed his place. There has been no gunfire.'' "

Postscript: The following day, it seems an assasination attempt DID in fact occur. Wierd... why the cover-up?