What Sunni voters want

In a complete turnabout from last January's vote to select an interim assembly, Sunni Arabs are expected to turn out in large numbers Thursday to select Iraq's new parliament.

In some cases, they are being driven to participate by a sense of disenfranchisement and a desire to gain more political sway in a country many see as being dominated by a powerful Shiite and Kurdish alliance.

They are also motivated by a strong anti-US sentiment that runs throughout much of the Sunni community. In fact, some Sunni politicians are even using images of dead insurgents to attract support among those who are sympathetic to Iraq's violent rebellion.

While most agree Iraq's permanent parliament will have greater Sunni representation, it will be an uphill battle for this minority to regain a foothold in the country they once dominated.

Sunni anger grew Tuesday as news spread that Mizhal al-Duleimy, a prominent Sunni politician, was fatally shot while campaigning in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad. That comes on top of fresh reports that Sunnis arrested by Shiite forces are being mistreated and tortured in underground prisons. Iraq's interim prime minister, Ibrahim Jafaari, acknowledged that more abused prisoners have been found inside jails run by his interior ministry.

"We kept telling the US and the UN that there are such prisons, and that all the prison are full of Sunnis," says Nabil Mohammed Yunis, a political scientist and consultant with the Iraqi Islamic Party, which is one of the prominent groups in a multiparty Sunni slate named the Iraqi Consensus Front. The prisons are an "issue that will push others to participate in the elections. People want to see that there will be a political balance in the government, so that such prisons will be closed, because most of the people in them are innocent."

At an appliance shop in downtown Baghdad, several Sunni shop managers talk about the elections in hushed tones, stopping the conversation when their Shiite employees come within earshot.

"A lot of bad things have been happening on the ground since Shiites captured the government," says Bassem As-Shumari, one of the managers. The men say that most government-employed Sunnis have been thrown out of their jobs, and there has been an increase in random arrests and disappearances.

Co-worker Taha Sheikhli says that his brother-in-law was among a group of Sunnis brought before a Shiite-run court in Sadr City. He says his brother-in-law was released with the demand he pay 2 million Iraqi dinars [about $1,380] in protection money or see his family killed; they fled to Syria instead.

"This is not a pure democracy," says Mr. Sheikhli. "We'll do our duty, so I'll vote for a Sunni party, but I what I really want is someone to unify the country, not increase divisions."

Theirs is a familiar theme heard across Iraq's complicated ethnic and political spectrum. Sheikhli and Mr. As-Shumar, like many Sunnis, say they are voting for the Iraqi Consensus Front - a slate consisting of the three main Sunni parties - but say they also support Iyad Allawi, the former prime minister, who is a secular Shiite.

"I like Allawi," says As-Shumar, "because he cares about Iraq, not which sect you're from." If they were able to cast two ballots, the men said, they'd give their vote for parliament to the Sunni parties, and a second vote to Mr. Allawi for prime minister.

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