While Bremer tries to get the UN to rescue his Iraqi plan, on the ground...
Top Iraqi Shiite Cleric Holds Talks With Tribal Leaders
Thousands of people flocked to Friday prayers in Iraq's Shiite heartland as the sect's most senior cleric met tribal leaders to discuss his opposition to a U.S. plan for transferring power to Iraqis.
Residents said attendance was higher than usual at mosques in Najaf, the holiest Shiite city in Iraq, reflecting growing support for Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and his demand for an elected government to replace the U.S. occupation authorities.
U.S. administrators in Iraq have said it is impossible to hold elections before a June 30 deadline to hand over power and have proposed instead that a government selected by regional caucuses take over and hold polls next year.
Sistani is one of the most revered men in Iraq, where Shiites are a majority, and his opposition to the U.S. blueprint is a major blow to Washington.
Sistani remained in his rooms during the day in Najaf, within 500 yards of the gold domed tomb of the sect's most revered Imam Ali. Aides said he was meeting tribal leaders from around Iraq to discuss the transfer of power.
"We are with Sistani, whatever he does," said Hasan al-Moussawi, a youth selling swatches of cloth by the side of the shrine. "We agree with all his demands."
An aide said Thursday that Sistani could issue a fatwa, or edict, banning Shiites from cooperating with any authority installed by Washington unless direct elections are held.
The move could pit the country's majority Shiite community squarely against the coalition forces, but there was no immediate sign that Sistani was planning such a step.
ROOM FOR TALKING
Friday, another of Sistani's aides told Reuters Television there was still time to find a compromise and that people would continue to stage peaceful demonstrations to show their opposition to the U.S. plan.
"There is still room for dialogue and meetings to reach the solution that will allow the Iraqi people to express their will," Sheikh Abd al Mahdi al Karbalai said.
"The mechanism proposed by the occupation forces by appointment rather than election does not fulfill what the Iraqi people aspire to... the lack of legitimacy without elections will lead to instability," he added.
Many Shiites believe that elections would bring Shiites to power in an Arab country for the first time in more than 800 years. Others say it is important to have an elected government to decide on Iraq's constitution, which is to be debated over the next year or so.
Turk Abbas, an elderly man selling blankets from a trolley, said he had little knowledge of politics, but supported Sistani.
"It's natural to have a Shiite government because we are the majority," he said pulling on his gray beard. "But it will be difficult for the Americans to let the Shiites have power."
Many in Iraq believe Washington is opposed to Shiites taking over in Baghdad because of the possibility that they could link up with the Shiite government in neighboring Iran.
Shiites form only about 15 percent of the world's one billion Muslims, the rest mostly being Sunni Muslims. But they are in a majority in Iran and make up about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.
The sect was repressed during the regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni, and he brutally put down an uprising in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq after the 1991 Gulf War.
Asked if he disliked Saddam or the United States more, Abbas the blanket seller said: "No one can ever be worse than Saddam."
washingtonpost.com
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