Saturday, December 31, 2005

Reuters reports: Leaders of Iraq's Sunni and secular communities gave a cautious welcome on Friday to a plan to bring foreign experts to Baghdad to review the results of this month's election, which they say was fraudulent. They said they would cooperate with the experts and still hoped to join Shi'ites and Kurds in a grand coalition government capable of healing Iraq's sectarian wounds and providing its people with the basic services they so badly need. [...]

Sunday, December 25, 2005

New York Times via Star Tribune: An Iraqi court ordered at least 90 candidates in the recent national elections disqualified from serving in the Iraqi parliament because of their ties to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. While it was not clear whether more than a handful of the affected candidates would have won seats in parliament, the ruling bars some Sunni Arab leaders who probably would have won. And it is sure to stoke already-deep resentment among Sunni Arabs, who are likely to again have a limited role in the new government despite a large turnout at the ballot box nine days ago. [...]

Mail & Guardian: The governing Shi'ite coalition has called on Iraqis to accept results showing the religious bloc leading in parliamentary elections and moved ahead with efforts to form a "national unity" government. But as they reached out Saturday to Sunni Arabs and others, senior officials in the United Iraqi Alliance deepened the post-election turmoil by claiming that Islamic extremists and Saddam Hussein loyalists were at the forefront of those questioning the results. At least one Sunni Arab leader said he was upset by the Shi'ite comments. [...]