Cleric Renews Call for Election in Iraq

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Cleric Renews Call for Election in Iraq
Sistani Spells Out Opposition to U.S. Plan
By Anthony Shadid and Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 30, 2003; Page A01

BAGHDAD, Nov. 29 -- Iraq's most powerful Shiite Muslim cleric said in remarks made public Saturday that he opposed key elements of a U.S. plan for a political transition in Iraq and insisted that a provisional government be chosen through elections, challenging the Bush administration's proposal for relinquishing authority by June.

The statement by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani was made in response to written questions sent to his liaison office in London. While Iraqi politicians had reported elements of Sistani's objections after meetings this week, Sistani had not publicly addressed the proposal, and the remarks represented his clearest statement yet on the plan.

"The mechanism in place to choose members of the transitional legislative assembly does not guarantee the establishment of an assembly that truly represents the Iraqi people," Sistani said in the handwritten response, which bore the stamp of his headquarters in the holy city of Najaf and was sent electronically from his liaison office in English and Arabic.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A21909-2003Nov29.html