Baghdad, 22 August (AKI) - One of the main
groups involved in the Sunni insurrection, Ansar al
Sunna, has urged its supporters to register to vote
for the referendum set for October 15 on the future
Iraq constitution, in order to vote "no".
The radical Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr has also
urged Iraqis to register for the referendum, though
he has not indicated which way he would prefer
people to vote, waiting instead for the draft of the
constitution to be presented to parliament.
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Radical Shiite preacher
Moqtada al-Sadr |
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"Rejecting the constitution will defeat American
plans in Iraq," said a statement from Ansar al Sunna,
which stated that voting is a form of "jihad against
America". Another statement issued by six of the
seven Ansar groups promised that there will not be
attacks against Americans on the day of the
referendum, "to protect those who go to vote."
"Voting is a jihad of words and is no different from
the jihad of the sword," the statement said. "There
are no objections to participation in the referendum
to show the world our strength and to defeat
federalism."
Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militants fought against
American troops before agreeing to a ceasefire last
year, is also opposed to the federalism the Kurds
are pushing for. The Shiite preacher urged his
followers to register, but warned them to wait for
an order on whether to take part in the vote or not.
If the constitution is rejected with two thirds of
the votes in at least three of the Iraqi provinces,
it will fail. The Sunnis, who boycotted the
elections in January, appear determined to take part
in this consultation exercise. The two appeals come
while the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political
leaders try to reach agreement over the text of the
new constitution, which is due to be presented to
the Iraqi parliament by midnight on Monday night,
though this deadline looks set to be put back a
second time. As well as federalism, the main
sticking points are distribution of Iraq's oil
wealth, power-sharing among the provinces and the
role of Islam.
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