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Sadr Allies With Sunnis for Elections
NAJAF, Iraq, October26 , 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Shiite leader Moqtada Al-Sadr said Wednesday, October26 , he would present a joint list of candidates with Sunni Arabs in Al-Anbar province to contest the December 15 legislative elections.
The office of the anti-occupation firebrand said it decided to ally itself with the Sunnis due to "the difficult situation facing the country, to prevent the occupier and enemies of Iraq from attaining their goals, to consolidate national identity and to reaffirm its unity," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"The deputy Fattah Al-Sheikh has been designated to form a list in Al-Anbar for the elections," added the statement.
Sheikh told AFP he would "run in Al-Anbar at the head of a list that includes eight Sunni candidates.
"Consultations have taken place in recent days to create a national Islamic force," to run against a secular bloc being mooted by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, he said.
Al-Anbar along with Nineveh and Salahudin were the only three provinces which rejected the draft constitution hard-pressed by the Shiites and Kurds and ratified in a referendum whose results were announced Tuesday, October25 .
Al-Anbar and Salahudin recorded "No" votes greater than two thirds, but Nineveh was short of a veto.
Referendum rules stipulate that the draft fails if rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three of the 18 provinces and elections to a new parliament must be held.
Sunni Appeal
Meanwhile, the newly constituted Sunni Iraqi Concord Front (ICF), a united political front of three Sunni parties, appealed to other political powers in the country to join forces.
"The door is open to other entities or political figures that wish to join our list," it said in a statement carried by AFP.
The Conference of the People of Iraq (CPI), the Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue (IND) joined the political fray in Iraq on October 14 as one entity on October 14 to run in parliamentary elections.
"We want to run as a political bloc in the next elections in order to obtain the best results," IND head Sheikh Khalaf Alayan told reporters on Wednesday.
CPI chief Adnan Al-Dulaimi criticized those who might call for a boycott of the vote, saying they "sought to destroy the country".
"We hope that those who oppose this consultation will not place obstacles in our path," added Islamic Party number two Tareq Al-Hashimi.
The Sunni Arabs, along with Sadr and other communist powers, mostly boycotted general elections on January30 , but appear to have understood since that they must elect candidates in order to weigh in on crucial decisions after a new round of voting in mid-December.
The Sunni bloc urged voters to "go to the ballots en masse and ignore calls for a boycott that would harm our country's interests."
The Islamic Party backed the new Iraqi constitution when it was put to referendum a week ago, while the two other groups opposed the draft charter.
The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the largest influential body in Iraq , nonetheless refrained from calling immediately for a boycott of the elections.
"We have not yet decided on our position," committee spokesman Abdel Salam Kobaisi.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-10/26/article09.shtml
"The deputy Fattah Al-Sheikh has been designated to form a list in Al-Anbar for the elections," added the statement.
Sheikh told AFP he would "run in Al-Anbar at the head of a list that includes eight Sunni candidates.
"Consultations have taken place in recent days to create a national Islamic force," to run against a secular bloc being mooted by former prime minister Iyad Allawi, he said.
Al-Anbar along with Nineveh and Salahudin were the only three provinces which rejected the draft constitution hard-pressed by the Shiites and Kurds and ratified in a referendum whose results were announced Tuesday, October25 .
Al-Anbar and Salahudin recorded "No" votes greater than two thirds, but Nineveh was short of a veto.
Referendum rules stipulate that the draft fails if rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three of the 18 provinces and elections to a new parliament must be held.
Sunni Appeal
Meanwhile, the newly constituted Sunni Iraqi Concord Front (ICF), a united political front of three Sunni parties, appealed to other political powers in the country to join forces.
"The door is open to other entities or political figures that wish to join our list," it said in a statement carried by AFP.
The Conference of the People of Iraq (CPI), the Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue (IND) joined the political fray in Iraq on October 14 as one entity on October 14 to run in parliamentary elections.
"We want to run as a political bloc in the next elections in order to obtain the best results," IND head Sheikh Khalaf Alayan told reporters on Wednesday.
CPI chief Adnan Al-Dulaimi criticized those who might call for a boycott of the vote, saying they "sought to destroy the country".
"We hope that those who oppose this consultation will not place obstacles in our path," added Islamic Party number two Tareq Al-Hashimi.
The Sunni Arabs, along with Sadr and other communist powers, mostly boycotted general elections on January30 , but appear to have understood since that they must elect candidates in order to weigh in on crucial decisions after a new round of voting in mid-December.
The Sunni bloc urged voters to "go to the ballots en masse and ignore calls for a boycott that would harm our country's interests."
The Islamic Party backed the new Iraqi constitution when it was put to referendum a week ago, while the two other groups opposed the draft charter.
The Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), the largest influential body in Iraq , nonetheless refrained from calling immediately for a boycott of the elections.
"We have not yet decided on our position," committee spokesman Abdel Salam Kobaisi.
http://islamonline.net/English/News/2005-10/26/article09.shtml
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Coalition officials said on Thursday that talks late into the night had resolved arguments that had threatened to break up the coalition.
Among changes agreed, the movement of nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would have a more formal role in the alliance, Abbas al-Bayati, an Alliance member of parliament told Reuters.
A formal announcement would be made later in the day, he added.
Three principle Shia movements are involved in the alliance - the powerful Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) formed in exile in Iran to oppose Saddam Hussein and led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the Dawa party of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, and al-Sadr's movement.
Although al-Sadr has three allies in the present interim cabinet, he has been ambivalent in public about the government.
Al-Sistani unsupportive
According to an AP report, however, Iraq's leading Shia cleric, Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, has decided not to endorse the Shia coalition which ran under his banner in January, according to associates on both sides.
Iraq's ruling Shia-led coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, will contest December's parliamentary election as a single electoral list.
Coalition officials said on Thursday that talks late into the night had resolved arguments that had threatened to break up the coalition.
Among changes agreed, the movement of nationalist cleric Muqtada al-Sadr would have a more formal role in the alliance, Abbas al-Bayati, an Alliance member of parliament told Reuters.
A formal announcement would be made later in the day, he added.
Three principle Shia movements are involved in the alliance - the powerful Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) formed in exile in Iran to oppose Saddam Hussein and led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the Dawa party of Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, and al-Sadr's movement.
Although al-Sadr has three allies in the present interim cabinet, he has been ambivalent in public about the government.
Al-Sistani unsupportive
According to an AP report, however, Iraq's leading Shia cleric, Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, has decided not to endorse the Shia coalition which ran under his banner in January, according to associates on both sides.
But an influential group of Sunni Arab clerics, the Association of Muslim Scholars, denounced the constitution and said they would not join the political process.
Those contradictory statements signalled confusion within the minority Sunni Arab community over how to go forward, after it failed to block ratification of the new constitution in the 15 October referendum.
Many Sunnis opposed the document, fearing it could lead to the breakup of the country into semi-autonomous regions favouring rival Kurds and Shias.
Sunni Arabs had also largely boycotted Iraq's 30 January election, enabling the Shias and Kurds to win an overwhelming majority in parliament and shape the constitution.
Latest attacks
Meanwhile, on Thursday, a car bomber attacked a US military convoy in central Baghdad, killing one Iraqi civilian and wounding four, police said.
US aircraft also fired on safe houses near the Syrian border, apparently killing a senior al-Qaida figure in Iraq who was allegedly using religious courts to try Iraqis who supported foreign forces.
In the oil-rich Kirkuk city, 290km north of Baghdad, police Lieutenantt Colonel Arjuman Said died of wounds he had suffered the day before when he was hit by a drive-by shooting in front of his home, said police Brigadier Sarhad Qadir.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/CAEFF50E-96C6-4B59-A86F-48EDB235C751.htm