ADN Kronos International, 22 August 2005.
Baghdad, 22 August (AKI) - One of the main groups involved in the Sunni insurrection, Ansar al Sunna, has urged its supporters to register to vote for the referendum set for October 15 on the future Iraq constitution, in order to vote "no".
The radical Shiite imam Moqtada al-Sadr has also urged Iraqis to register for the referendum, though he has not indicated which way he would prefer people to vote, waiting instead for the draft of the constitution to be presented to parliament.
"Rejecting the constitution will defeat American plans in Iraq," said a statement from Ansar al Sunna, which stated that voting is a form of "jihad against America". Another statement issued by six of the seven Ansar groups promised that there will not be attacks against Americans on the day of the referendum, "to protect those who go to vote."
"Voting is a jihad of words and is no different from the jihad of the sword," the statement said. "There are no objections to participation in the referendum to show the world our strength and to defeat federalism."
Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militants fought against American troops before agreeing to a ceasefire last year, is also opposed to the federalism the Kurds are pushing for. The Shiite preacher urged his followers to register, but warned them to wait for an order on whether to take part in the vote or not.
If the constitution is rejected with two thirds of the votes in at least three of the Iraqi provinces, it will fail. The Sunnis, who boycotted the elections in January, appear determined to take part in this consultation exercise. The two appeals come while the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish political leaders try to reach agreement over the text of the new constitution, which is due to be presented to the Iraqi parliament by midnight on Monday night, though this deadline looks set to be put back a second time. As well as federalism, the main sticking points are distribution of Iraq's oil wealth, power-sharing among the provinces and the role of Islam.
Citation: "Iraq: Armed Groups Urge Participation in Referendum," ADN Kronos International, 22 August 2005.
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