Shi’ite and Sunni lines drawn for Iraq vote

By Mariam Karouny

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Members of Iraq’s ruling Shi’ite-led
coalition patched up their differences on Thursday, a day
before a deadline to register for December 15 polls where they
face a challenge from a new Sunni bloc as well as old rivals.

Officials within the coalition said the United Iraqi
Alliance would contest December’s parliamentary election as a
single electoral list after talks late into the night resolved
arguments that had threatened to break up the grouping.

On Wednesday, three leading parties from the Sunni Arab
minority formed a coalition to contest the election, although
other Sunni politicians are likely to campaign separately.

The two main Kurdish movements, which joined the
Shi’ite-led Alliance in the interim government, have also
agreed to run on a joint ticket again, despite long-standing
rivalries.

Former prime minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi’ite, has
put together a broad list attempting to attract secular voters
from across the sectarian and ethnic divides, Allawi’s office
has said. It will be formally unveiled on Saturday.

Wednesday’s alliance between the Iraqi People’s Gathering,
the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue was the
clearest sign yet that some Sunnis are turning to the ballot
box after boycotting Iraq’s last parliamentary vote in January.

The participation of far more Sunni Arabs in an October 15
constitutional referendum was hailed by the Iraqi government
and Washington, even though Sunni areas voted overwhelmingly
against the constitution — which they narrowly failed to veto.

U.S. and Iraqi officials are likely to welcome the new
Sunni alliance, but it was not clear if the group has much sway
over hardline Sunni insurgents fighting the Shi’ite and
Kurdish-led government and the U.S. occupying force. Nor did it
appear to have the backing of all mainstream Sunni politicians.

SHI’ITE CHANGES

After late night talks among the Shi’ite politicians,
Alliance members of parliament said that among changes agreed,
the movement of nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr would have a
more formal role in the alliance.

A formal announcement would be made later in the day, Ali
Dabagh said. Parties and coalitions have until Friday to get
their names on the ballot paper for the December 15 vote.

“The Alliance has reached a deal and they will go into the
election with a full list,” Abbas al-Bayati said.

“Almost everyone on the previous list is in.”

Three principle Shi’ite Islamist movements are involved —
the powerful Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq
(SCIRI), formed in exile in Iran to oppose Saddam Hussein and
led by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim; the Dawa party of Prime Minister
Ibrahim Jaafari; and Sadr’s movement.

Although Sadr has three allies in the present cabinet, he
has been ambivalent in public about the government. His armed
supporters, the Mehdi Army, have clashed in recent months
across Shi’ite southern Iraq with the Badr militia forces of
Hakim’s

SCIRI.

There had been speculation that the Alliance would break up
and that rival Islamist lists, possibly opposing Dawa and Sadr
on the one hand and SCIRI on the other, would run for seats.
Following ratification of a constitution this month, the new
parliament will have full powers and a four-year term.

In January, with Sunnis largely boycotting the poll, the
United Alliance, running as “No. 169″ on a lengthy ballot
paper, took a majority of seats in parliament, helped by the
blessing of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, spiritual guide to
much of the long oppressed, 60-percent Shi’ite majority.

Aides to the reclusive cleric, however, have indicated that
he will refuse to back a specific party in the December vote.

The U.S. ambassador to Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, visiting
Washington, again stressed the Sunnis’ ability to amend the
constitution, largely drafted by Shi’ites and Kurds; it was a
“living document” and Sunni concerns on federal autonomy and
Islamic law would be dealt with in the new assembly.

Political change and stronger Iraqi forces could allow U.S.
troops to reduce their numbers next year, he added.

The U.S. military, which on Tuesday marked its 2,000th
death since the 2003 invasion, said three more U.S. soldiers
were killed on Wednesday in two separate roadside bomb attacks.

A car bomb hit a U.S. patrol of Humvee armored vehicles in
Baghdad on Thursday morning, killing one civilian and wounding
four more, police and witnesses said.

The rise of the U.S. death toll has added to pressure on
President George W. Bush to show progress in Iraq, with growing
numbers of U.S. voters skeptical about the direction of the
war.

Protesters across the United States took part in hundreds
of vigils and rallies on Wednesday.