Kidnapped Italian Reporter Shown on Tape

Front-runner Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the current vice president, visited Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, the alliance's leader, at his Baghdad office to discuss the pending announcement of the alliance's candidate to be prime minister.


Shortly after he left, his main rival, former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, arrived for talks. Chalabi, 58, who left Iraq as a teen, fell out of favor with Washington last year after claims he passed intelligence information to Iran.


Chalabi, a secular Shiite, led the Iraqi National Congress, an umbrella for groups that included Iraqi exiles, Kurds and Shiites. Much of the intelligence his group supplied on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction programs failed to pan out.


Hussein al-Mousawi, a spokesman for the Shiite Political Council, an umbrella group for 38 Shiite political parties, has said Chalabi most likely would be the next prime minister because he has broad support beyond the Sistani-backed United Iraqi Alliance.


The race to be the Shiites' pick for prime minister narrowed Tuesday, when Adel Abdul Mahdi, who has close ties to Iran, dropped out.


A close aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who almost guaranteed the United Iraqi Alliance's victory when he endorsed it, said "the grand cleric has the final say" as to who will be the candidate.


The Kurdish parties have apparently agreed to support the alliance's candidate for prime minister in return for the presidency.


The aide said on condition of anonymity that the alliance's leaders will visit al-Sistani's office in Najaf to get his blessing for their choice for prime minister. If they cannot agree, al-Sistani will make the final decision.


Al-Hakim, a Shiite cleric with close ties to Iran, has said he is not interested in the prime minister's post.


Also Wednesday, videotape obtained by Associated Press Television News showed hostage Giuliana Sgrena speaking in both French and Italian as she pleaded for the Italian government to pull out its troops.


"You must end the occupation, it's the only way we can get out of this situation," the 56-year-old journalist for the communist daily Il Manifesto pleaded. There was no indication when the tape was made, and the words "Mujahedeen Without Borders" appeared in digital red Arabic script on the video. The group was previously unknown.


"I ask the Italian government, the Italian people struggling against the occupation, I ask my husband, 'Please, help me,'" Sgrena said. "You must do all you can to end the occupation. I'm counting on you. You can help me."


Il Manifesto strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and has fiercely criticized Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi's decision to deploy 3,000 troops in the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq.


At one point she addressed her companion, Pierre Scolari, breaking into tears.


"Show all the pictures I have taken of the Iraqis, of the children hit by the cluster bombs, of the women. I beg you. Help me, help me to demand the withdrawal of the troops, help me spare my life."


Sgrena was kidnapped Feb. 4 by unidentified gunmen outside a mosque in Baghdad. Conflicting claims about her fate have appeared on Islamic militant Web sites.


Police found the bound and gagged bodies of eight Iraqis, mostly civilians who had worked at a U.S. military base, in shallow graves north of the Iraqi capital. All were shot in the back of the head.


The eight had been missing since they were kidnapped three days ago by insurgents, said Mohammed Latif, chief of the local police force in Dejali, about 40 miles north of Baghdad. He said a piece of paper attached to each body said: "This is the punishment of the traitors and those who work for the American occupation."


U.S. forces also clashed with insurgents in Ramadi and Samarra, and militants attacked U.S. convoys with bombs in the northern city of Mosul, damaging a military vehicle. Several people were injured, witnesses said.


The meetings in Baghdad on the new government came as the Iraqi Electoral Commission's deadline to file complaints approached. Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said 25 complaints have been filed so far.


"Most of them are asking for a recount of the votes and we are looking into those requests," he said. "We tell them that we were very accurate in counting the ballots. You know, they just want more votes."


He said he expected the commission to certify the vote totals Thursday, when the official allocation of seats in the 275-member National Assembly also would be announced. The assembly picks the president and two vice presidents, and drafts a new constitution.


Once the results are certified, the present government must set a timetable for installing the new government. It is not known how long that might take, and it will depend on back-room dealmaking among the parties.


The clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance got 48 percent of the vote for the National Assembly, the Kurdish alliance got 26 percent and interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who supported strong ties to Washington, got only 14 percent. Nine other parties also won seats in the assembly.


Al-Jaafari, a 58-year-old moderate Shiite Muslim politician who fled a brutal crackdown by Saddam Hussein in 1980, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he wanted constitution that will draw not only on Islam.


"Islam should be the official religion of the country, and one of the main sources for legislation, along with other sources that do not harm Muslim sensibilities," said al-Jaafari, who currently serves as Iraq's interim vice president and was living in London until Saddam's regime was overthrown.


He said he supports women's rights, including the right to be the president or prime minister, as well as self-determination and individual freedoms for all Iraqis.


Al-Jaafari said if he is confirmed as prime minister, he would first try to stymie the violence.


"The security situation is at the top, as it is a pressing element," al-Jaafari said. As a result, he said he would not push for the United States and its allies to withdraw their troops anytime soon.


In the interview, he said he shares the Kurdish and Shiite desires for federalism in Iraq.


"I am looking for a constitution that would be a clear mirror of the composition of the Iraq people," he said. It should be "based on respecting all Iraqi beliefs and freedoms."


But he opposes any attempts to break Iraq apart, following a nonbinding referendum in the Kurdistan region promoting independence.


"Federalism doesn't mean separation from the nation state," he said.


Even though he leads the Dawa Party, which is part of the clergy-endorsed United Iraqi Alliance, his views contrasted with the official platform on the party's Web site. The party explicitly urges for the "Islamization" of the Iraqi society and the state, including the implementation of Sharia, or Islamic law.


He dismissed the apparent contradiction, saying only, "Theory is different from practice."


Al-Jaafari was born in Karbala, the home of Shiites' holiest shrine, and attended medical school. He joined the Dawa Party in 1966 but left Iraq in 1980 when Saddam cracked down on the party's leaders.