|
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the head
of a religious party who fought Saddam Hussein and
took refuge in Iran for a decade, was chosen Tuesday
as the dominant Shiite ticket's candidate for prime
minister making him the overwhelming favorite for
the post.
Al-Jaafari's selection came after former Washington
ally Ahmad Chalabi dropped out of the race following
three days of round-the-clock bargaining. Al-Jaafari
has been seen as having close ties to Iran's ruling
clergy, though he denies any links to a government
that President Bush has said is part of an ''axis of
evil.''
But al-Jaafari must now build a ruling coalition and
win agreement from the Kurds and others on
candidates for Cabinet posts and the largely
ceremonial presidency before seeking the support of
a majority of the National Assembly elected Jan. 30.
It may not be easy for the 58-year-old physician
from the Shiite holy city of Karbala. He'll have to
meet conflicting demands from Kurds, Sunni Arabs and
even Islamic hard-liners within his United Iraqi
Alliance, which won about 51 percent of the seats in
the assembly. A two-thirds majority is required for
approval of the presidency the first step in the
process for the top positions.
''The Kurds will not ally with any nominee for
the prime ministerial post unless he meets their
demands,'' Noshirwan Mustafa, a top Kurdish leader,
told The Associated Press.
Iraq's secular Kurds and many Sunnis worry that al-Jaafari
will try to impose his Dawa Party's brand of
conservative Islam on the country, particularly
because the assembly will be charged with writing a
new constitution.
Al-Jaafari told the AP last week that Islam should
be the official religion of Iraq ''and one of the
main sources for legislation, along with other
sources that do not harm Muslim sensibilities.''
He skirted his party's official position, which
explicitly urges for the ''Islamization'' of Iraqi
society and the state, including the implementation
of Shariah, or Islamic law.
''Theory is different from practice,'' al-Jaafari
said.
Adnan Pachachi, a secular Sunni who fared badly in
the elections, said he thinks al-Jaafari will appeal
to all sides. ''I don't find him an extremist at
all, rather a moderate man who is trying to reach
out and communicate with all people of different
affiliations,'' Pachachi said.
The leader of a Sunni group that boycotted the
elections said he didn't mind an Islamic government
so long as it doesn't discriminate against Sunnis.
''We, as an Islamic party, we are not afraid of an
Islamic government, but we are worried about a
sectarian government,'' said Mohsen Abdel of the
Iraqi Islamic Party.
There are other obstacles, and it was unclear how
long it might take to select a Cabinet.
Ayad Allawi, the secular Shiite interim prime
minister whose party received 14 percent of the
votes on Jan. 30, could be tapped for a Cabinet post
but has his own demands for cooperation.
Allawi has staunchly opposed the effort to rid the
government and administration of former members of
Saddam's Baath party.
''If they met our demands, then we don't care about
what ministerial post we get. Even if we were
offered a post, we won't accept it unless the
demands are met,'' said Emad Shabeb, a senior member
of Allawi's party.
The Shiites have said they also intend to bring
Sunni Arab leaders into the administration to help
smooth relations with the Sunni minority, alienated
after the fall of Saddam. Some Sunnis are active in
the Iraqi insurgency.
Chalabi could also prove a headache. His
surprisingly strong showing within the alliance has
restored him to Iraq's political elite after he fell
from grace following accusations from Washington
that he supplied Iran with classified information.
Wanted in Jordan for bank fraud, Chalabi was said to
be angling for the post of deputy prime minister in
charge of finance and security.
''Tomorrow morning we will start a move in other
directions, to choose the Cabinet after we reached a
conclusion internally about the three presidency
posts,'' alliance spokesman Humam Hamoudi said. ''As
for the ministries, we are still talking and we have
time.''
According to the interim constitution adopted last
year under the U.S. occupation, the 275-member
National Assembly must elect a president and two
vice presidents by a two-thirds majority, or 182
seats. The three must then unanimously choose a
prime minister subject to assembly approval.
There is no timetable for the assembly to convene,
and al-Jaafari and his alliance must agree with
other elected parties on who will fill the three
posts and the Cabinet. Even then, the prime minister
has a month to name his Cabinet before the assembly
vote.
Kurdish parties, who received 26 percent of the
vote, or 75 seats, have said they want Jalal
Talabani, a secular Sunni Kurd and leader of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, to be Iraq's next
president.
''We respect the choice of the alliance for al-Jaafari,
but we will not give a premature opinion about that
choice unless we negotiate with him on our
demands,'' said Mustafa, the No. 2 man in the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan.
He said demands include a new constitution that will
legalize Kurdish self-rule in the north. Kurds,
which make up about 15 percent of the population,
also want an end to what they call ''Arabization''
of Kirkuk and other northern regions where Saddam
settled Iraqi Arabs in a bid to secure control of
the oil fields.
The Shiite alliance has not taken a firm stand on
the demands, especially with regard to Kirkuk.
Interim Finance Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a member
of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in
Iraq a party in the Shiite alliance said a
delegation would be sent north to discuss the Kurds'
terms.
''We have negotiations with the brotherly Kurds and
Turkomen, as we said before there will be a
delegation from the alliance to negotiate ... to
reach solutions that preserve the rights of the
Iraqi people and its unity,'' he said.
Al-Jaafari is a top leader in the Islamic Dawa
Party, one of the main Shiite parties in the
clergy-backed alliance. He fled Iraq in 1980 during
a crackdown by Saddam's forces against a bloody Dawa
Party uprising that began in the late 1970s and was
crushed in 1982. The group said it lost 77,000
members in wars against Saddam.
From Iran, where he remained until 1990, al-Jaafari
is believed to have orchestrated a series of
cross-border attacks against Iraqi forces while
studying Shiite theology in the holy city of Qom.
He was seen as the leader of a pro-Tehran faction of
Dawa with close ties to Iran's clerical government,
though he denies any such links.
''This is just a widespread, mistaken belief,'' al-Jaafari
told AP.
On Wednesday, the U.S. command said an American
Marine was killed in a vehicle accident during
military operations west of Baghdad. The non-hostile
accident occurred Tuesday in Anbar province, the
military said in a statement.
As of Tuesday, at least 1,484 members of the U.S.
military have died since the beginning of the Iraq
war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press
count. At least 1,126 died as a result of hostile
action, according to the Defense Department.
Associated Press reporter Qasim Abdul-Zahra
contributed to this report.
AP
Top |
® 