By Edward Wong
New York Times
22 March 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 21 - The most powerful Shiite cleric in Iraq called late Sunday for quick agreement on a new government, expressing displeasure with the weeks of drawn-out haggling, which has begun to stir unrest in the Iraqi public.
The cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, appeared to be putting pressure on Kurdish politicians in talks on forming a governing coalition.
Even though he has no constituency in the mostly Sunni Kurdish territory, the ayatollah has proved to be the most influential authority in the new Iraq. He brought together the largest and most successful Shiite bloc in the elections, and he has been able to call up huge street protests and get voters to the polls.
A leading Shiite politician, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, told reporters that the ayatollah felt "discontent" over the delay and was calling for speed in forming a government "on the basis of maintaining equality for everyone." Mr. Hakim made his remarks in Najaf after meeting there Sunday evening with Ayatollah Sistani.
The main Shiite and Kurdish blocs together have more than two-thirds of the 275 seats in the new assembly, enough to install a government, but have been at odds over the conditions for an alliance since the elections on Jan. 30. The Kurds have been trying to extract promises that would let them retain their strong autonomy and gain vital territory in northern Iraq, particularly Kirkuk, the center of an oil-rich region.
"Sayed Sistani has affirmed the principles he believes in, which are national unity, giving rights to the Iraqi people and not marginalizing the rights of others," said Mr. Hakim, using the honorific reserved for direct descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.
The statement was the first public sign of displeasure from Ayatollah Sistani over the negotiations. The long process has demoralized many Iraqis who turned out to vote despite insurgent threats.
Mr. Hakim said Sunday that the talks between the leading Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, and the Kurds were showing "obvious progress," and that a new government would be announced "within the coming days." For weeks, though, leading politicians have been saying the government would be formed within "a few days." Many Iraqis had hoped the Shiites and Kurds would come to some sort of agreement by the time the assembly held its first meeting, but the event came and went without a deal.
Because of the delay, any new government will have to operate on a tight timetable. The national assembly is expected to have a draft of the constitution ready by August, according to the transitional basic law approved in March 2004. A national referendum on the draft is to be held in October, with elections for a full-term government at year's end.
The former governing Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the elections, have had to watch the negotiations from the sidelines. Some of their leaders have been asked by Shiite and Kurdish leaders to take token positions in the new government, but no Sunni with any real influence over the insurgency has agreed to play a role in politics.
Adnan Pachachi, a Sunni Arab who served as foreign minister in the 1950's, said in an interview on Monday that all parties had agreed that a Sunni Arab should take one of the two vice presidencies and the post of speaker of the assembly. Shiite and Kurdish leaders say the three prominent Sunnis being considered for those jobs are Mr. Pachachi; Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, the head of the Constitutional Monarchy Party and a member of the Hashemite dynasty; and Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, the president of the interim government.
The Shiites and Kurds also say they want to ensure that Prime Minister Ayad Allawi gets a high position in the government. Dr. Allawi has tried to portray himself as a strongman with the resources to either quash or co-opt the insurgency. But some Shiite leaders have criticized him for bringing senior members of the former ruling Baath Party back into the government.
A wave of attacks across central and northern Iraq left at least 10 Iraqis dead on Monday, a day after an American convoy fended off as many as 50 attackers in one of the fiercest firefights of recent months, right outside the capital.
In the most devastating attack on Monday, a roadside bomb in Aziziya, 35 miles southeast of Baghdad, killed four women and three children, The Associated Press reported, citing a police captain. An Iraqi soldier in Sharqat, in the north, was killed by a mortar shell, and a soldier was killed and four others were wounded when their vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Baghdad.
The Interior Ministry said a roadside bomb exploded next to an Iraqi Army convoy in Amariya, in Baghdad, killing one Iraqi soldier.
An American marine was killed in combat on Sunday and another on Monday in Anbar Province, in western Iraq, the American military said. The military also released more details on Monday about the ambitious insurgent assault that unfolded at noon on Sunday around the town of Salman Pak, 12 miles southeast of Baghdad, and left at least 26 guerrillas dead.
An American convoy protected by members of the Army 617th Military Police Company came under attack by 40 to 50 insurgents armed with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, the military said. The convoy became incapacitated, and the military police maneuvered to outflank the attackers. Apache attack helicopters were called in but did not take part in the battle, the military said.
Seven American soldiers and seven insurgents were also wounded in the fight, and one attacker was captured. Meeting in Algiers on Monday before the Arab League summit there, the Jordanian and Iraqi foreign ministers agreed to restore their diplomatic missions to each other's countries. Both nations recalled their top diplomats amid the furor over allegations that a Jordanian was a suicide bomber who killed at least 130 people in Hilla, Iraq, last month.
Reporting for this article was contributed by Robert F. Worth from Baghdad, Iraqi employees of The New York Times from Najaf and Mosul, and Hassan M. Fatah from Algiers.
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Citation: Edward Wong, "Top Shiite Cleric Urges Iraqis to Form Coalition," New York Times, 22 March 2005.
Original URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/22/international/middleeast/22iraq.html
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