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

To: lurqer who wrote (38488)	2/26/2004 9:58:43 AM
From: lurqer	Respond to of 89467

Cleric Calls for Year-End Elections Iraq's most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric called Thursday for elections by the end of the year, signaling he would accept an interim government but insisting on a strict timeframe after the United States hands over power. Washington believes elections cannot be held before the end of year and probably not before early 2005. However, the Shiite clergy, fearful that balloting might be delayed indefinitely, has insisted on elections as soon as possible. In a statement issued by his office in Najaf, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani demanded "clear guarantees, such as a Security Council resolution," to fix a date so that "there is no more postponement and prolonging." It was al-Sistani's first public comment on elections since U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan ruled out a vote by June 30, the date the United States plans to return sovereignty to Iraqis. Al-Sistani said that although the United Nations had decided an election wasn't feasible before then, its suggestion that the vote could be held by the end of the year "is of great significance." Washington also has argued that elections could not be held before the transfer of power because of the absence of electoral laws and voter rolls. "The U.N. estimates somewhere between a year and 15 months. It might be that it could be sped up a little bit," L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator for Iraq, said last week in an interview with the Dubai-based Al Arabiya television station. "But there are real important technical problems as to why elections are not possible." The Bush administration -- facing continued violence against U.S. forces and their allies and eager to end the formal occupation ahead of November presidential elections -- has said the June 30 deadline for the transfer of power and the end of the occupation cannot be changed. In the latest violence, a bomb exploded Thursday near a police car in Baquoba, killing one policeman, injuring four others and damaging four police vehicles. A restaurant owner said the police were inside having lunch when the bomb exploded. Also, an American fuel truck was hit by a roadside bomb in the western outskirts of Baghdad, but no casualties were reported, the U.S. command said Thursday. Witnesses said some Americans appeared to have been wounded in the attack Wednesday night, but the U.S. command said it could not confirm the claims. The attack occurred hours after a U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa helicopter crashed into the Euphrates River, killing its two pilots. The U.S. military said Thursday that the helicopter had clipped a power line and that the crash was not due to hostile fire. The pilots' deaths brought to 547 the number of American service members who have died since the Iraq war began on March 20. Most of the deaths have occurred since President Bush declared an end to active combat May 1. Al-Sistani said the "unelected government" that will take power June 30 must have a "limited and clear mandate" to remain in office "for a few months only." That indicated acceptance by al-Sistani of an unelected government, but only one with weak powers whose main function would be to organize elections. U.S. officials say they are anxious for the Iraqis to recommend ways to form a transitional government now that two U.S. blueprints have been rejected. U.S. and U.N. officials said the security situation must improve in order to have credible elections. However, the commander of coalition forces, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, told reporters Thursday that security conditions in Iraq were "considerably better than what they were 60 days ago" and that the situation was "manageable for whatever government process that needs to take place." Sanchez said the threat from supporters of Saddam Hussein had decreased but that the "terrorist element" had "begun to take pre-eminence." Al-Sistani's statement came after a meeting with a delegation of Shiite members of the Iraqi Governing Council. Afterward, delegate Mouwafak al-Rubaie told reporters that "we support al-Sistani's statement in the smallest details." The United States had planned to hand power to a government chosen by a transitional legislature, whose members would be selected in regional caucuses. That plan was shot down after al-Sistani demanded the legislature be elected. Last year, al-Sistani's demands for elected delegates to draft a new constitution, rather than those appointed by the U.S.-led coalition and the Iraqis, forced Washington to revise a seven-stage plan that would have established a sovereign government in 2005. In his statement, al-Sistani noted that "there is a growing concern" whether the Iraqis, the Americans and the United Nations "can during the remaining period reach a mechanism that enjoys the broadest support of the Iraqi people." Al-Sistani said Iraq was now facing political factionalism that he had "tried to overcome by calling for direct elections." washingtonpost.com lurqer