clerics are now being told to stay out of politics        [separation of
Church and State]
_____________________________________________________________________________________



March 27,  2005.

 

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has said Shia Muslim religious
leaders should stay out of politics,
an usual public criticism of the powerful clergy.

"Thrusting the religious establishment into daily political affairs
could distance it from its guiding role 
and disrupt relations between the political forces, which could create an
imbalance," 
his National Accord Party said in a letter sent to Shia and Kurdish politicians.

"Everyone must agree on the role of the religious leadership in the
interim period," it said. 

The state-owned Al-Sabah newspaper published the letter on Saturday.

Public criticism of Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's most influential Shia
cleric, is almost unheard of in the
country.

It could deepen a political crisis sparked by the failure to form a
government after the 30 January
elections.

The criticism comes as Kurdish and Shia parties, which between them have
the two-thirds majority
needed to form a government, are struggling to decide on a cabinet and top jobs.

#  Criticism disputed

A member of the Shia United Iraqi Alliance on Saturday rejected Allawi's criticism.

Speaking to Aljazeera by telephone from Baghdad, Walid al-Hilli said
al-Sistani's group, the Religious
Reference, had helped democracy by urging Iraqis to participate in the
January elections.

Neither al-Sistani nor his office formally backed a party in the
legislative election, al-Hilli pointed out.

Al-Sistani approved of Allawi when he became interim prime minister in
June, Shia politicians say, 
but now endorses Ibrahim al-Jafari, a religious Shia, as the bloc's
candidate for prime minister.

Despite assurances by the Shia bloc that it supports multiparty democracy,
concern has been growing
that Iraq could slide towards Islamic rule and become less tolerant.

Al-Sistani's aides have said he does not want an Iranian-style Islamic state.

Last week, Shia activists attacked a group of male and female university
students having a picnic
together in Basra, provoking an outcry from secular parties.

Allawi's relations have been uneasy with the Najaf seminary, where
al-Sistani is based.

Interim Health Minister Ala Abd al-Alwan, an Allawi ally, left Iraq several
weeks ago after religious
conservatives threatened to kill him for sacking other conservatives in the
ministry, officials said.

#  Allawi's role

The interim prime minister's secular stance and opposition to firing en
masse former members of 
Saddam Hussein's Baath Party helped him win 40 seats in the 275-member
parliament in January's
elections.

Both the Shia and Kurdish blocs have been trying to persuade Allawi to join
a new government, 
but he has refused, saying new guidelines are needed on how to treat Baath
Party members and 
militias that have sprung up in post-war Iraq.

"The Debaathification commission needs to abandon randomness and adopt
legal ways to punish the
 criminals and allow the rest to participate in rebuilding," the letter said.

"A national unity programme requires shunning collective punishment
and creating a mechanism for
 those who are not represented in parliament to participate in writing the
constitution and the political
 process," said Allawi, referring to the Sunnis.

That minority community, which enjoyed power under Saddam, a Sunni, won
only 17 seats in parliament
after a widespread boycott of the elections and fears of reprisals by
fighters against voters.
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http://snipurl.com/dopo

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