[Excerpt: But the Committee of Muslim Scholars, the premier organisation of Sunni clerics across Iraq, poured cold water on hopes for an end to the community's hardline stance against the US-imposed experiment of democracy in Iraq......The association, which called for a Sunni boycott of the election, said the next government would lack the authority to write a new constitution laying out the framework for a post-Saddam future......"These elections lack legitimacy because a huge portion of the population boycotted and this tells us the the national assembly and the coming government will not have the legitimacy required for writing the constitution, or concluding security and trade agreements," the committee said.]
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/050202/1/3qap8.html Thursday February 3, 6:04 AM Iraq's Sunni clerics dismiss vote as 12 soldiers slain Influential Sunni Muslim clerics on branded Iraq's election as illegitimate, dealing a blow to hopes of reconciliation, as 12 soldiers were killed by rebels in the deadliest attack since the vote. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi intensified his calls for the country's various communities to unite after the polls, the first since Saddam Hussein was toppled in a US-led war in 2003 and the first free election in more than half a century. "Now that the political parties were starting consultations to form the next, elected government, all agreed on the importance of this being a fully inclusive process. All parts and all sectors of Iraqi society should be involved," said a statement released by Allawi's office. The interim premier, a candidate to head the incoming transitional government, met with several party leaders, including members of the Sunni community, which is still reeling from its fall from power. Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar, himself a Sunni and a tribal leader, said he believed the ethnic shareout would remain the same for the post-election government that must oversee the drawing up of a new constitution, with the Kurds also being given the post of national assembly speaker. But the Committee of Muslim Scholars, the premier organisation of Sunni clerics across Iraq, poured cold water on hopes for an end to the community's hardline stance against the US-imposed experiment of democracy in Iraq. The association, which called for a Sunni boycott of the election, said the next government would lack the authority to write a new constitution laying out the framework for a post-Saddam future. "These elections lack legitimacy because a huge portion of the population boycotted and this tells us the the national assembly and the coming government will not have the legitimacy required for writing the constitution, or concluding security and trade agreements," the committee said. It stopped short of slamming the door and offered a tentative olive branch to the next government in acknowledgement of the millions of Iraqis who braved Sunday's violence, saying it would have "limited authority." As Iraq waited for the final vote tally, the election commission said it was investigating remedies to the fact that tens of thousands of people were unable to vote due to a short of ballot papers. Meanwhile, an uneasy lull in violence that had prevailed in the immediate aftermath of the election was shattered when rebels killed 12 Iraqi soldiers near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk. The 12 soldiers were traveling back from their jobs guarding oil pipelines when they were ambushed on the road between the villages of Azab and Zaraquiya, 85 kilometres (65 miles) west of Kirkuk, said General Anwar Amin. "The martyrs finished their jobs and were on their way back to their villages at 8:30 pm. A group of terrorists opened fire and killed them. Bullets ripped their heads and chests," Amin said. Kirkuk's deputy mayor, Ismail al Hadidi, said funerals would be held Thursday for the men "who were protecting Iraq's riches from the terrorists." It was the deadliest single attack since the election. Eleven Iraqis, mostly members of the security forces, were killed over the past 24 hours in a string of attacks, and a Shiite political leader escaped an assassination attempt in the holy city of Najaf. In Washington, US President George W. Bush was to use his State of the Union speech later Wednesday to urge critics of the war to help Iraqis build democratic institutions, while rejecting calls to set a specific timetable for pulling the roughly 150,000 US troops out of Iraq, aides said. "We're not talking about an exit strategy. We're talking about a strategy for success in Iraq," senior Bush adviser Dan Bartlett told NBC television. "That means to help the Iraqi people, help this new elected government take control of their own destiny, take control of security forces, build up not only the quantity of the security forces, but also the quality of the security forces," he said. A timetable for coalition troops to pull out is one of the main Sunni demands, but US and Iraqi officials have refrained from promising such an announcement. Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday that Britain must "stay the course" in Iraq until Iraqis themselves establish democracy with their own security forces. Allawi came under fire from a top Shiite candidate for prime minister, Hussein Shahristani, who said his government was the most corrupt in Iraq's history. "It is very well known in the country that the corruption is very widespread from the police to the judicial systems... As a matter of fact Iraq has never known the level of corruption prevailing now," Shahristani told AFP. enditem ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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