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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lurqer who wrote (34767)	1/11/2004 6:57:06 PM
From: lurqer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

More of the same. In Blow to U.S. Plans, Top Shiite Demands Direct Elections In a blow to White House plans for a smooth handover of power to an Iraqi transitional government by July 1, the most influential Shiite cleric in Iraq said today that members of an interim assembly had to be chosen through direct elections. The cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had called in November for direct elections to counter an American proposal to hold caucus-style elections, but had said he would reconsider his decision if a United Nations committee decided that general elections were not possible. But in a statement issued today, Ayatollah Sistani essentially left no room for compromise by saying that elections could be held "within the next months with an acceptable level of transparency and credibility." He added that an interim constitution being drafted by the Iraqi Governing Council would have to be approved by a directly elected assembly for it to have legitimacy. In another sign that Iraqis were asserting their power, the Governing Council issued new guidelines today for the removal of former Baath Party members from government jobs. Like the Coalition Provisional Authority's previous guidelines, the new ones call for the automatic dismissal of anyone who belonged to the top four levels of the Baath Party. But it allows for people from the fourth level to appeal the dismissal, and says those who choose not to appeal can take a pension. Disturbing signs emerged of a tenuous security situation in parts of southern Iraq, generally considered much calmer than the north. An Iraqi-American man working for the provisional authority and an Iraqi man were found shot to death execution-style by a highway south of Basra, said Capt. Saddam Mortaza of the Basra police. Their killer or killers had blindfolded the two men and tied their hands behind their backs, then shot them in their heads, Captain Mortaza said. In the southern town of Amara, protesters armed with sticks and homemade bombs attacked British soldiers outside city hall one day after six people were killed by Iraqi police officers and possibly British soldiers in a demonstration against the country's lack of jobs. When asked about Ayatollah Sistani's latest demand for direct elections, a senior coalition official said American officials were pressing ahead with their plans for putting together an interim assembly. Those plans are outlined in an agreement reached between the provisional authority and the Governing Council on Nov. 15, and they call for caucus-style elections throughout Iraq's 18 provinces by May 31 for members of the interim assembly. That assembly would then appoint officers to the transitional government. "We are working on implementing the Nov. 15 agreement," the coalition official said. "We've got to move forward on this agreement." The official said the provisional authority was letting the Governing Council deal with Ayatollah Sistani, saying, "It's so important they take the lead." But Ayatollah Sistani's statement came right after a committee from the Governing Council led by Adnan Pachachi, the current head of the council, met with Ayatollah Sistani in Najaf, the holy Shiite city south of Baghdad. nytimes.com lurqer