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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Islamic Army urges Iraqis to vote against constitution |
| 2005-09-11 |
| The Islamic Army in Iraq, an extremist Sunni group known for kidnapping and killing foreigners, issued an Internet statement yesterday, urging Iraqis to vote no in Octoberâs referendum on a new constitution. The groupâs Shariah law committee said that âvoting no ... will result in a rejection of the constitution, the failure of (enemy) plans and the fall of the government which is in the pay of the occupier.â The statement on an Islamist website differs from declarations made by other militant Sunni groups which have threatened Iraqis with death if they participate in the October 15 vote. âSaying yes would be to pass an impious constitution ... which seeks to divide Iraq into different districts submissive to the occupier and replace most Islamic laws by impious laws and take the Islamic and Arab identity away from Iraq,â it said. âBoycotting the referendum and preventing citizens from taking part ... is in the enemiesâ interest ... because thus, brother Muslim, you will have diminished the voice of those who reject the constitution and favoured (the victory of) those who want it.â The Organisation of Al Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and the Ansar al-Sunna, also linked to Al Qaeda, have called on Iraqis to boycott the referendum on pain of death. Leaders of Iraqâs disempowered Sunni minority have voiced objections to certain aspects of the draft constitution, which was passed over their heads by parliament in August. The document will need to be rewritten and resubmitted if two-thirds of voters in three of Iraqâs 18 provinces say no, numbers the Sunni community could muster. The Islamic Army notably murdered Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni last August and kidnapped French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were released in December after four months detention. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Rock the Vote? |
| Posted by: Captain America 2005-09-11 03:09 |