Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Shia cleric urges Al-Sadr to leave UIA
Politics
(Quds Press) An Iraqi political activist and religious authority has criticized the Baghdad conference that was held on Saturday 10 March with the participation of Syria and Iran. In an exclusive statement to Quds Press, Shaykh Jawad al-Khalisi, the secretary general of the Iraqi National Constituent Conference described the state of fragmentation that the Iraqi Shi'i coalition is witnessing as normal. He said: "The coalition is defective. Its members do not form homogenous blocs. However, the sectarian congestion, the occupation's policy, and the fatwas [religious edicts] that sanction the killing of Shi'is have all contributed towards the dangerous formation of sectarian camps because they encourage sectarian fragmentation."
Al-Khalisi welcomed the position of the Al-Fadilah [virture] Party which resigned from the coalition. He urged Al-Sadr supporters to follow suit. He said: "What Al-Fadilah Party has done in terms of resigning from the Shi'i coalition is a positive and good step. I hope that the Al-Sadr Trend, which was forced into the political process, will do what Al-Fadilah Party did and work together to form a unified national entity, one that will encompass leaders from the Al-Tawafuq Front, the Iraqi List, and others away from sectarian considerations."
Al-Khalisi welcomed the position of the Al-Fadilah [virture] Party which resigned from the coalition. He urged Al-Sadr supporters to follow suit. He said: "What Al-Fadilah Party has done in terms of resigning from the Shi'i coalition is a positive and good step. I hope that the Al-Sadr Trend, which was forced into the political process, will do what Al-Fadilah Party did and work together to form a unified national entity, one that will encompass leaders from the Al-Tawafuq Front, the Iraqi List, and others away from sectarian considerations."
COMMENT: Al-Khalisi is a Shi'i cleric and former member of SCIRI (1982). He is in favour of Sunni-Shi'i alliances and is committed to the idea of an Islamic state; he has ties with the Muslim Scholars Association, a Sunni group; has been critical of the US-led presence in Iraq and urged boycott of the 2004 elections. COMMENT ENDS.
Labels: Fadhela party, Moqtada Al-Sadr, Shaykh Jawad al-Khalisi
