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Iraqi leader predicts insurgents' defeat
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-03 09:03
Iraq's interim prime minister declared Wednesday that the success of the
national elections had dealt a major blow to the insurgents — who have not
carried out a major attack since the balloting — and he predicted they will be
defeated within months.
But a major Sunni clerical group declared that Sunday's elections "lack
legitimacy" because many Sunni Arabs did not participate, saying the new
government would have no mandate to guide the nation's future.
Scouts from the U.S. Army 1st
Battalion 161st Regiment Washington State National Guard wait to be towed
after they sank into an open sewer in the street while patroling an
impoverished neighborhood in southern Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005.
[AP] | That suggested problems remain in reconciling with the Sunni Arabs, who
comprise about 20 percent of Iraq's 26 million people but form the core of the
insurgency.
Nevertheless, both Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and his major Shiite Muslim
rivals reached out to the Sunnis, promising them a major role in drafting the
new constitution even though many shunned the ballot — either out of fear of
rebel attack or opposition to the electoral process.
"Definitely the Sunni Muslims will take part in the government and will have
a role in the drafting of constitution," Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the main
Shiite political faction, told The Associated Press.
Allawi, a secular Shiite backed by the Americans, told Iraqi television that
the elections, which drew large turnouts except in Sunni insurgent strongholds,
constituted a "major blow to all forces of terrorism."
He noted that attacks by Sunni insurgents had fallen dramatically since the
elections but it was unclear whether the drop was the start of a trend.
Insurgent activity also slowed after the transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqis
in June but picked up weeks later.
"They might be reorganizing themselves and changing their plans," Allawi said
of the insurgents. "The coming days and weeks will show whether this trend will
continue ... But the final outcome will be failure. They will continue for
months but this (insurgency) will end."
Following the election, U.S. military planners hope to shift from offensive
operations against the insurgents to training Iraqi forces to do the job. Still,
U.S. troops are continuing offensive operations, arresting four suspected rebels
in northern Iraq and killing a suspected member of an al-Qaida-linked group
northwest of Baghdad, the U.S. command said Wednesday.
Three days after the balloting, the Iraqi election commission has still not
released any results or turnout figures, promising them with a week. Political
sources say the ticket endorsed by the Shiite clergy was expected to win the
largest share of the 275 National Assembly seats. Tickets led by Kurdish
politicians and by Allawi also were running strong.
Al-Hakim, the head of the Shiite ticket, suggested Wednesday that his group
would insist on the prime minister's post, saying his faction had several
qualified candidates. That could mean Allawi might lose his job in the new
administration if the Shiite ticket ends up with more than half the Assembly
seats.
Still, the new government's ability to reconcile with disaffected elements in
the Sunni community is considered the key to stability and to enabling the
170,000 mostly American foreign troops to leave.
In its first official statement since the ballot, the Sunni clerical
Association of Muslim Scholars, which had called for an election boycott, said
the new government would lack legitimacy because many Sunnis stayed home on
election day.
The association said the new government would lack the mandate to draft a new
constitution — one of the major duties of the new National Assembly.
"We cannot participate in the drafting of a constitution written under
military occupation," said association spokesman, Mohammed Bashar al-Feidhi.
Despite statements by Sunni hard-liners, Allawi met with leaders of the 16
major political factions to discuss plans for the new government. The group
included two of the leading Sunni politicians — President Ghazi al-Yawer and
elder statesman Adnan Pachachi — and Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite
mentioned as a possible prime minister.
Allawi said he would meet Thursday with representatives of groups that did
not take part in the elections but names of the participants were not released.
Iraqi politicians were relieved that the elections went off without major
violence, despite rebel threats to "wash the streets in blood." More than 40
people were killed in eight suicide bombings and about 100 attacks on polling
stations, but the level of violence was not extraordinary for a people hardened
by years of war, repression and terrorism.
U.S. and Iraqi officials attributed the success to a massive security
operation, which included tens of thousands of soldiers and police on the
streets, a ban on most private vehicles, closing the borders and extended curfew
hours. Those measures have since been relaxed.
Encouraged by the election success, the police chief in the city of Mosul,
Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Jubouri, gave insurgents two weeks to hand in their
weapons or he would "wipe out any village" that gave them shelter.
Mosul has been tense since insurgents rose up in November in support of
militants under siege in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The entire 5,000-member
police force deserted before U.S. and Iraqi troops regained control.
Despite the lull in major attacks, insurgents blew up an oil pipeline
Wednesday near the central city of Samarra, police said. The pipeline serves
domestic power stations in Baghdad and Beiji and does not affect exports.
Four civilians were killed Wednesday in a drive-by shooting in Iskandariyah
south of Baghdad, police said. The motive was unclear.
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