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Sunni Arabs join forces for Iraq elections
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-27 08:59

Three Sunni Arab groups joined forces Wednesday to field candidates in December's elections provided for under the newly ratified constitution which many Sunnis opposed.

But a group of hard-line Sunni clerics denounced the constitution and said they will not join the political process.

Those contradictory statements signaled confusion within the minority Sunni Arab community, which forms the core of the insurgency, over how to go forward after it failed to block ratification of the new constitution in the Oct. 15 referendum.

Leaders of the three Sunni groups — the General Conference for the People of Iraq, the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Iraqi National Dialogue — announced they would field a joint slate of candidates in the Dec. 15 balloting and work together in the new parliament to promote Sunni interests.

"This alliance aims to provide Iraqis with a national slate for the elections," Ayad al-Samarraie, a senior official of the Iraqi Islamic Party, told reporters.

Tarek al-Hashimi (L), Secretary General of Sunni Muslim Iraqi Islamic Party, and Adnan al-Duliami, head of the General Conference for Sunnis in Iraq, announce in Baghdad the formation of a new alliance to run on one list in December 15 parliamentary election under the name Iraqi Concord Front.
Tarek al-Hashimi (L), Secretary General of Sunni Muslim Iraqi Islamic Party, and Adnan al-Duliami, head of the General Conference for Sunnis in Iraq, announce in Baghdad the formation of a new alliance to run on one list in December 15 parliamentary election under the name Iraqi Concord Front. [AFP]
He said the largely Sunni alliance will include some Shiites in southern provinces and that its agenda will include a call for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from Iraqi — if progress can be made in building national institutions.

"The next elections are important because they will produce a balanced National Assembly," he said. "Iraqis will have various options to choose from, and this enriches democracy in Iraq."

U.S. officials see Sunni Arab participation as a hopeful sign that more and more members of the community will forsake the insurgency, enabling the United States and its allies to begin drawing down their forces next year.

Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the Jan. 30 election, enabling the Shiites and Kurds to win an overwhelming majority in parliament and shape the constitution. Many Sunni Arabs voted against the charter in October because they feared it could lead to the breakup of the country and favored rival Shiites and Kurds.
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