Shia cleric challenges Bush plan for Iraq
Jonathan Steele in Baghdad
Wednesday July 2, 2003
The Guardian
Ayatollah Ali Sistani, Iraq\'s leading Shia cleric, has condemned as \"fundamentally unacceptable\" US plans to appoint rather than elect the Iraqis who will begin drafting a new constitution.
His fatwa, published in Baghdad newspapers yesterday, carries enormous moral weight for the majority Shia community which has been excluded from political power for decades.
It also complicates the efforts of Paul Bremer, the US-imposed administrator, who intends to name a hand-picked \"governing council\" of about 30 members in a fortnight.
Ayatollah Sistani is seen as a moderate leader who believes that religious leaders should remain aloof from politics.
\"The occupation officials do not enjoy the authority to appoint the members of a council that would write the constitution\", Ayatollah Sistani said in the fatwa. \"There is no guarantee that this council would grant a constitution that accorded with the highest interests of the Iraqi people and would express their national identity, among the pillars of which is the foundation of the pure religion of Islam and noble social virtues,\" he added.
He called for a general election \"so that every eligible Iraqi can choose someone to represent him at the constitutional convention that will write the constitution. Then there must be a public referendum. It is incumbent upon all believers to demand the realisation of this important matter, and to join together in achieving it,\" he said.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,989364,00.html