Iraq Muslim Clerics Express Doubts Over Elections
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An influential group of Iraqi Sunni  Muslim clerics said Tuesday that elections scheduled for  January would be a farce unless they were nationwide.
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Iraq's future political landscape began to take shape Friday, as a coalition led by powerful Shiite Muslim groups revealed a few of its candidates in next month's parliamentary election. They include former exiles, a prominent cleric and members of the interim government.
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A powerful group of Sunni Muslim  clerics threatened Sunday to call a boycott of Iraq's first  free elections in decades if U.S. forces launch a  widely-expected assault on the rebel stronghold of Falluja.
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BAGHDAD, Nov. 27 -- Iraq's Shiite Muslim parties and the religious leadership headed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani on Saturday rejected a demand by other communities for a delay in nationwide elections scheduled for Jan. 30, in an escalating dispute that magnifies the country's ethnic and sectarian fault lines.
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NAJAF, Iraq -- Two years after helping to bring to power a government led by Shiite religious parties, Iraq's paramount Shiite clerics find their influence diminished as their followers criticize them for backing a political alliance that has failed to pass crucial legislation, improve basic...
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Leading Sunni clerics declared on Wednesday that any government emerging from Iraq's historic election would lack legitimacy because many people had boycotted a poll they said was tainted by a U.S.-led occupation.
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IRAQ&#39;S election was thrown into doubt yesterday as one of the country&#39;s main Sunni parties withdrew, while a tape purporting to be Osama bin Laden warned Iraqis not to vote.
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NAJAF, Iraq  - The fate of a radical Shi&#39;ite rebellion in the holy city of Najaf was uncertain on Friday amid disputed reports that Iraqi police had gained control of the Imam Ali Mosque.
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BAGHDAD, Aug. 29 -- The powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr publicly ordered his huge militia Wednesday to "freeze" operations for up to six months, but U.S. and Iraqi officials expressed skepticism of the cleric's intentions and his ability to control the fractured network of fighters who kill...
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An escalating political rift among Iraq&#39;s main religious groups and continued violence throughout the country are threatening parliamentary elections set for January.
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BASRA, Iraq  - Bristling with guards, the polling  station looks more like a fortress than a school, but Iraqis in  this Shi'ite Muslim city say the clampdown ahead of Sunday's  election day is reassuring.
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Shia Muslim candidates have won the majority of votes in Iraq's elections. Send us your reaction.
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As Iraq's nationwide elections near, the clergy has led an unprecedented mobilization of the Shiite majority population. The momentum they have created has made a delay in the ballot difficult, if not impossible.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq Raids on mosques and the arrests of hardline clerics are raising fears that the US siege on Fallujah will further alienate Iraq&#39;s Sunni minority.
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BAGHDAD - Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadrâs movement will not participate in the national Iraqi elections due on January 30, Sadrâs senior assistant asserted on Friday.
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The candidate list endorsed by Iraq's top Shiite cleric is likely to emerge as the dominant political group in Sunday's election. But his followers said Monday they aren't looking to create a cleric-led Islamic state, and expectations are they won't be strong enough to govern on their own.
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BAGHDAD -- Iraq's future political landscape began taking shape yesterday, as a coalition led by powerful Shi'ite Muslim groups revealed a few of its candidates in next month's parliamentary election. They include former exiles, a prominent cleric, and members of the interim government.