An armed Iraqi Shi'ite group which has strained relations with Washington distanced itself on Wednesday from recent attacks against US forces in Iraq, saying they would only escalate the war-torn country's problems. Abdelaziz Hakim, deputy head of the Iran-backed Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), also said the group did not share Tehran's enmity toward the United States, which has accused Iran of meddling in Iraq.
US forces trying to police Iraq have come under a series of deadly attacks. The military has blamed them on supporters of ousted president Saddam Hussein and is trying to hunt them down. "We do not approve of such acts. There are no fatwas (religious edicts) from Iraqi scholars for these kinds of acts because they cause more problems," Hakim told the pan-Arab al-Hayat daily. "We must seek to end the occupation peacefully." SCIRI enjoys widespread respect among the Shi'ite majority in Iraq which was long oppressed by Saddam and is now keen to get its share of power. Earlier this month, US forces raided a Baghdad office of the group, which has said it would not join an interim political council envisaged by Iraq's US-British occupying powers unless it was elected. It has also not responded to a disarmament call.
| That's a good way to get yourself shot up, especially if the Sunnis get us all fired up... |
Its fighters and military leaders, who were mostly based in Iran, have been returning to Iraq since Saddam was toppled. Iraqi Shi'ite leaders have said they want to shape their own future, not set up an Iranian-style Islamic republic. Shi'ites make up two-thirds of Iraq's 26 million people, who include Sunni Muslims, Kurds and Christians. "Iran does not interfere in our affairs," Hakim said. "Our decisions are independent and we differ with (Iran) sometimes and the clearest of these differences is ties with Americans."
| Somebody's been doing some diplomacy. |
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