A path opens to elections in Iraq

A major roadblock to selecting a more representative government for Iraq by mid-2004 could soon disappear - if the UN becomes more involved in verifying the process that will determine Iraq's leaders.

In November, spurred on by a stubborn insurgency and Iraqi frustration with the US occupation, the US created a road map that hinges on the selection of a broad group of leaders by July. They would then shepherd Iraq to real elections in 2005 and the creation of a new constitution.

But the plan, which is backed by Iraq's major political groups, has been threatened by Ayotallah Ali al-Sistani, probably the most revered of Iraq's Shiite clerics. He has demanded full democratic elections by June, and leaders of the Shiite community - about 60 percent of Iraq's population - have said they won't defy his wishes.

But this week, in a key shift, Mr. Sistani said he could live with the US approach if the UN were involved in verifying the US position that holding fair elections by June isn't possible. The US has not commented on whether it would accept UN assessment of its election plan.

Council Member Mowafak al-Rubaiae says a letter was sent to the UN Security Council on Monday, and says he anticipates that their participation should smooth over what he calls "the major contentious issue" affecting the return of sovereignty to Iraq.

To be sure, the election is not the only contentious issue.

Another major challenge to the transitional process is the Kurdish demand for special autonomy that would enshrine the de facto separate state they created in the 1990s, when the US-enforced no fly zone allowed Kurdish guerrillas to take control of a wide swathe of the country's northeast.

The Governing Council is set to approve a "fundamental law," essentially an interim constitution, by Feb. 28, and Kurdish political parties are pushing for special rights, including a veto over the presence of federal troops in their area. The transitional constitution will set the ground rules for the government that the US hopes to hand sovereignty to on July 1.

Wednesday in Kirkuk - an oil-rich town that is home to a large number of Kurds but is not currently part of the autonomous zone - a Sunni Arab-led protest against Kurdish political domination of the city deteriorated into a gun battle. Protesters and gunmen fought at the offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan; at least two people were killed.

"We're all in agreement that the new Iraq should be a federation, but the difficult question is what kind of federation we will adopt,'' says Ahmed Shia'a al-Barrak, a human rights lawyer and council member. "There are still a lot of opinions about how to proceed."

Page: 1 | 2