A political process of rebellious Iraq

After months of strident rejection of the elections in Iraq, two top groups from the minority &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/printed.html?news_id=14783 ' target=_blank>Sunni Muslim population said Friday that they would join in drafting the nation's constitution. If the groups participate - there have been many past reversals - it would be a significant step toward bringing Sunni into the political process and stemming sectarian divides that could cause civil unrest. The insurgency, however, continued to show that it didn't wish to join the fold. Gunmen stormed a Shiite Muslim mosque in north Baghdad, tackled and bound the guards and placed three homemade bombs inside. The American military announced that a soldier was killed and seven soldiers were wounded by a roadside bomb in northern Iraq. At least seven soldiers and Marines have been killed since Monday, the day after the elections. The new willingness Friday of the two Sunni groups, the Muslim Scholars Association and the &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/397/13719_Iraq.html ' target=_blank>Iraqi Islamic Party, to take part in the U.S.-backed political process came as partial polling results continued to show a big victory by a ticket of candidates guided by a Shiite cleric, tells the Sun News. Accordingt to CNN, voter turnout in last Sunday's election for a 275-member National Assembly and 18 provincial councils remains unknown. So far, election workers have counted 3.3 million votes, or 35 percent of all polling stations. The results are from 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces in the southern part of the country. The al-Sistani-backed United Iraqi Alliance also won most of the absentee votes, The Associated Press reported, citing preliminary figures the International Organization for Migration released Friday. The organization supervised Iraqi expatriates' votes in 14 countries. &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2003/04/17/45981.html ' target=_blank>Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, the Shiite coalition's leader, spent many years exiled in Iran, where he participated in a growing movement against &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/world/2003/03/12/44264.html ' target=_blank>Saddam Hussein. The alliance has several clerics vying for office, but its leaders said the group is not seeking to force Islamic law on Iraq. NR

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