Triumphant Iraq Shi'ites dismiss vote fraud claims

[allemand]

24 Dec 2005 11:20:43 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Gideon Long

BAGHDAD, Dec 24 (Reuters) - The coalition bloc that triumphed in last week's Iraqi election dismissed allegations of fraud on Saturday and insisted the country's next prime minister should come from within its Shi'ite Islamist ranks.

Responding to claims by Sunni Arabs and some secular parties of widespread vote-rigging during the Dec. 15 election, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) said its opponents were bad losers. (...)

While both Sunnis and Shi'ites have talked tough since the partial results came out, they have also been negotiating behind the scenes, and analysts say the main parties and coalitions are largely staking their claims for power rather than threatening to disrupt the process of forming a government. But there are gunmen on both sides of Iraq's sectarian divide who could cause trouble if they do not get their way. (...)

The head of the Badr Organisation, Hadi al-Ameri, took part in the news conference and issued a thinly veiled warning to militants from other sects and ethnic groups in Iraq: "We ask those who have rejected the results to avoid using threatening language and dragging the country into a state of chaos."

More:
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LON429690.htm

[rooboy]

1. I think the vote was free and fair...

apart from the part where Saxby Chambliss won the seat for Ramadi :)

[hwmnbn]

2. So wasn't the purple finger idea....

done to insure free and fair elections? So that each person can only vote once? I guess they are learning what everybody here knows. It's not who votes that matters, it's who counts the votes.

That's democracy! :sarcasm: