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Chalabi Backs Popular Call for Elections
Pressure on Washington to hold direct elections in Iraq mounted yesterday as a high profile member of the US-appointed Governing Council backed the popular call for polls before a July handover of power. The United States plans to hand sovereignty back to Iraqis by July 1, but says there is not enough time to arrange elections first. It wants regional caucuses to appoint a transitional government, paving the way for polls in 2005. There have been huge popular protests across Iraq, spearheaded by the majority Shiite community, rejecting the plan and demanding that Iraqis themselves be allowed to choose who governs them. Yesterday, Ahmad Chalabi, a member of Iraqâs Governing Council generally seen as close to Washington, said it would be possible to hold elections before the mid-year deadline, dealing another blow to the US political plan for Iraq. âDirect elections are possible,â Chalabi told a think tank conference in Washington. âSeek to make them possible and they will be possible.â Iraqâs Shiites, who represent 60 percent of the population, have mounted big demonstrations across Iraq in the past week, peacefully supporting their top leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani who says direct elections are essential.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2004-01-24 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=24925 |