A direct vote by year-end is NOT part of the U.S. transition plan.
Shiite Leader Reluctantly Backs U.S. Transition Plan
The cleric, who helped derail two proposals, wants U.N. guarantee of a direct vote by year-end.
By Patrick J. McDonnell
Times Staff Writer
February 27, 2004
BAGHDAD — In a boost for the Bush administration, Iraq's leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, signaled his reluctant support Thursday for a U.S.-backed blueprint to create an Iraqi caretaker government until direct elections can be held.
But the man considered to be one of the most influential in Iraq also called for a United Nations guarantee of elections by the end of the year and appeared to warn that he would not tolerate further delays. Shiites are the largest group in the country, accounting for more than 60% of the population.
The pointed declaration from a powerful leader who has twice helped scuttle plans for the transfer of power in Iraq helps open the way for Washington to end its official occupation by June 30.
Plans call for political power to be turned over on that date to a still-undetermined body of Iraqis who would govern until direct elections are held. However, U.S. troops are expected to remain in the country for at least another year under terms of an agreement to be negotiated with a new Iraqi administration.
From his base in the holy city of Najaf, the reclusive Sistani has pushed for direct elections, which presumably would lead to a government dominated by Iraq's long-repressed Shiite majority. Shiite protesters routinely hoist his image aloft in marches to demand such balloting.
"It is vital to understand that this [provisional] government is going to be valid for a short period of time and that it should be replaced as soon as possible by a democratically elected and fully recognized" body, said a statement issued by Sistani's office in Najaf, south of Baghdad
Posted by P6 at February 27, 2004 09:13 AM
Trackback URL: http://www.niggerati.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/602
Comments