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Iraqi Sunni Islamists eye radical Shiite
cleric 'Muqtada al-Sadr'
2.1.2006 |
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Baghdad, 2 Jan.
(AKI) - The Sunni Iraqi Islamic party is mooting a
possible alliance in the country's first
democratically elected permanent parliament with
supporters of firebrand Shiite muslim cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr, a party's spokesman, Ala Makki said on
Monday, quoted by Iraq's Nina News agency. "There is
much common ground on a number of national political
topics between the two formations.
This is why we are putting together an agreement to
form a new alliance," said Makki.
The preliminary results of Iraq's general election,
held on 15 December, show Sadr supporters taking as
many as 31 seats in Iraq's 275-seat parliament. If
the final results - now expected as soon as next
week - confirm this, the Sadrists will be the single
largest group in Iraq's democratically elected
parliament. |
Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr |
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Al-Sadr, who just one year ago, rejected the
political process and encouraged his followers to
kill US soldiers in Iraq, has transformed his
following into a political force that observers say
could significantly re-shape the new parliament. He
fielded his supporters to run for parliament, but
did not run himself.
The Sadrists took 30 seats in the election, running
on the Shiite-dominated governing United Iraqi
Alliance slate. They also gained a further seat by
running on the separate Messengers ticket, according
to the preliminary poll results.
On the strength of the preliminary results, Sadrists
are demanding a say in who should be prime minister
and in several key ministerial posts. They are also
demanding that their militia become part of the
government's security force.
They are reported to have already hinted that if
their demands are not met, they are prepared to
leave the United Iraqi Alliance, dashing any hope of
a unified government, according to observers.
Al-Sadr has presented himself as the voice of the
poorest Iraqi Shiites who suffered the worst
oppression during toppled dictator Saddam Hussein's
rule. In Sadr city, a Baghdad slum named after his
father, a senior Shiite spiritual leader who died at
the hands of Saddam's regime, has a following of
almost 2.5 million people, and has millions of
supporters in the Shiite stronghhold of southern
Iraq.
www.adnki.com
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