Iraqi Shiites unite, announce 228 candidates for elections

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Iraq's mainstream Shiite groups Thursday announced a diverse list of 228 candidates for the Jan. 30 elections, a victory for Shiite leaders who wanted to present a powerful, united front as they seek a leading role in post-Saddam Iraq after years on the sidelines.\nYet Iraq's major Sunni Arab factions, whose participation in the vote will be crucial to its legitimacy, were not included and have called for the vote to be postponed. Also absent was a radical Shiite cleric who could spoil the Shiite unity if he rejects the coalition's authority.\nIn a sign that Sunni Arab ranks might be breaking, one of the leading parties that had called for a delay, the Iraqi Islamic Party, quietly submitted its own 275-member list of candidates. Party officials told The Associated Press they wanted to reserve the right to take part if their calls for the vote to be put off are not heeded.\nThe list of 23 parties, dubbed the United Iraqi Alliance, could put new pressure on the Sunnis to join the race for the vote, especially now that it seems far more likely to proceed. Key Sunni leaders have demanded a boycott, but the interim Iraqi government and President Bush have said the election must go ahead.\nIraq's leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had appointed a six-member panel to create the list. He has been working to unite Iraq's majority Shiites ahead of the vote to ensure victory, plus include representatives from Iraq's other diverse communities. Shiites comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population.\nThe 228 candidates include independent Sunni Muslims, a Shiite Kurdish group, members of the Yazidis minority religious sect and a Turkomen movement, among others. Also among them are members of the Iraqi National Congress, led by former exile and one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi.\n"I think that this list is a patriotic list. We hope that Iraqi people will back this list," Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, head of the powerful Sunni Shemar tribes in the northwestern city of Mosul, said at the end of the conference.\nYet there are divides. Separate candidate lists are being compiled by aides to President Ghazi al-Yawer and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi -- drawing some Shiites away from the ticket that al-Sistani is overseeing, Shiite figures have said. The main Kurdish parties will contest the vote with their own unified list, Kurdish leaders have said.\nThe biggest wild card among the Shiites is firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. An aide said al-Sadr's movement had been invited to take part; he suggested the group refused because it wants to see how the vote plays out.\n"If the election's results will be beneficial, we will have another chance to join the elections in the coming phases, and if their results were bad it will be recorded that we did not support the occupation's existence," said al-Sadr's representative in Beirut, Lebanon, Hassan al-Zarqani.\nAl-Sadr's movement, which wields wide grassroots support among impoverished and young Shiites, has previously sent mixed messages about its role in the country's political process. There were signs that while al-Sadr and his top aides were not participating, the list had support of others of his followers.\nThe alliance includes the major Shiite political parties, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution and the Islamic Dawa Party. Both have strong links with Iran, a Shiite but non-Arab neighbor, something the Sadrists often use to question their rivals' Arab identity and commitment to Iraq's interests.\nThe election will be Iraq's first popular vote since Saddam Hussein's ousting. Iraqis will choose a 275-member assembly that will write a permanent constitution. If adopted in a referendum next year, the constitution would form the legal basis for another general election to be held by Dec. 15, 2005.\nVoters will be able to cast ballots for coalitions like the one presented Thursday. The number of seats coalitions win will be determined by the percentage of the vote they get. Individuals can run too, as long as they collect the necessary number of signatures.\nWhile the United States and top Iraqi leaders say the vote will go ahead, the vote's legitimacy will hinge on the action of Iraq's Sunni groups.\nMajor parties representing Iraq's 20 percent minority Sunnis have called for the vote's postponement because they say the country is not secure enough. The announcement by the Iraqi Islamic Party was a surprise because it had been seeking a delay.\nSenior party official Ayad al-Samarrai said the move was meant to prove the party was serious about elections, but will need to further evaluate the situation before deciding whether to contest the vote.\n"We're reserving our right (to participate in the elections)", said al-Samarrai. "Toward the end, we will decide"