Iraqi imams warn of foreign interference in January election

Nov 28, 2009, 8:44 GMT

Baghdad - Two politically influential Shiite Muslim preachers on Saturday warned of possible foreign interference in Iraq's coming parliamentary elections.

In his sermon for Eid al-Adha prayers, Ammar al-Hakim, the Iranian-educated head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a leading Shiite political party, warned against 'worrisome efforts to undermine the political process.'

'We stand against such attempts. They are doomed to fail. (There is) a danger of foreign intervention in the electoral process. The election is an internal Iraqi affair,' al-Hakim said in his Eid sermon to thousands of worshippers in Baghdad's al-Karada district.

Iraqi Shiite Muslims marked the Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice, on Saturday. Sunni Muslims marked the holiday on Friday. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq fared well in the 2005 elections, winning the capital, Baghdad, with 40 per cent of the vote.

'We must strive for consensus among all Iraqis,' al-Hakim said. 'We will defend all Iraqis across the country.'

Shiite cleric Mortada al-Qazawini had a similar message in his televised Eid sermon from the shrine to the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Hussein, in the Iraqi city of Karabala.

'There are attempts from within Iraq and from neighbouring countries to inject billions of dollars of funds to influence elections in favour of ... demons, wolves and thieves to steal our faith,' he said.

Both religious leaders urged Shiites to participate in the coming polls, the future of which has been thrown into question by a continued standoff between Iraqi Shiites and Kurds in parliament and Sunni politicians led by Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi.

Before the Eid holiday, officials from the country's electoral commission said the polls, which the constitution mandates must take place by the end of January, would likely be delayed, possibly until March.

Al-Hashemi on November 19 vetoed an elections law passed after months of rancorous debate over voting in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk, saying he wanted more seats in the parliament to be chosen by expatriate Iraqi voters, many of whom are thought to be Sunni.

After Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers last week passed an elections law that did not address the vice president's concerns, Arab politicians in Kirkuk threatened to boycott the polls unless al-Hashemi's concerns were met.

Many Iraqi Kurds hope to make Kirkuk the capital of a future independent state, calling it their 'Jerusalem.' Iraqi Arab politicians, allied with politicians from the area's Turkmen minority, view as an integral part of Iraq.

The United States has urgently sought to avoid a delay in the polls, fearing such a delay could interfere with its scheduled withdrawal of combat troops from the country.