An influential group of Sunni Muslim clerics on Tuesday urged Iraqis to boycott the first democratic election in decades in protest at a U.S.-led offensive against the rebel-held city of Falluja.
The call by Iraq's Muslim Clerics' Association, which has helped negotiate cease-fires in Falluja in the past, could appeal to Sunnis at the forefront of a revolt against the U.S. presence in Iraq and undermine the credibility of the election due on Jan. 27.
..."The interim government of (prime minister) Iyad Allawi bears full legal and historical responsibility for the war of annihilation Falluja is exposed to today at the hands of the occupation forces and militias of some parties in the interim government," he said.
Reuters articleThe call by Iraq's Muslim Clerics' Association, which has helped negotiate cease-fires in Falluja in the past, could appeal to Sunnis at the forefront of a revolt against the U.S. presence in Iraq and undermine the credibility of the election due on Jan. 27.
..."The interim government of (prime minister) Iyad Allawi bears full legal and historical responsibility for the war of annihilation Falluja is exposed to today at the hands of the occupation forces and militias of some parties in the interim government," he said.
Juan Cole from this morning....
That the Iraqi Islamic Party is now contemplating leaving the Allawi government raises the question of whether a mass Sunni Arab boycott of the elections is in the offing, thus fatally weakening the legitimacy of any new government.
FUBAR.
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