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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Sistani drawing up alternate proposals if direct elections impossible |
| 2004-02-15 |
| Iraq’s powerful Shiite Muslim authority has drawn up alternative proposals should the United Nations formally judge that snap direct elections as demanded by its top cleric are impossible, a representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said. The alternative proposals, drawn up by the Marjaiya, the top clerical body for the country’s majority Shiites, cannot be unveiled now "since we are awaiting an answer from the United Nations," Sheikh Abdel Mahdi al-Karbalai told AFP in the holy Shiite city of Karbala, south of Baghdad. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 The proof is in the proposals, but it will be a good thing for Iraqi leaders to take responsibility for planning the shape of their future. Real - but not unchecked or unaccountable - power tends to teach responsibility and moderation. Big ifs .... but I give Bush & Bremer credit for keeping Sistani involved and indirectly sidelining Iran's Sadr, at least for now. The Shia have absorbed some insurgency attacks in holy places, a much slower reconstruction than they probably hoped (magic wands being in short supply this season) and Sistani seems to grasp the fact that if the Shias play their cards right they will indeed be the majority in power and not just in population. We'll see ... lots of opportunity for things to go badly in the next 12 mos, but also for things to jell. |
| Posted by: rkb 2004-2-15 10:21:59 PM |