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December 09, 2004
Wanker Benched
Iraq's Shiite Muslims led by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Thursday unveiled a broadly based electoral alliance which excludes radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.The alliance, called the United Iraqi Alliance, is comprised of 228 candidates and groups the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, the Islamic Dawa Party and the Iraqi National Congress, Dawa party official Ali al-Adeeb said at a press conference.
The list of the alliance also included independent Sunni Muslims belonging to various tribal groups, he said.
However, Sadr, whose militia battled US-led forces in Baghdadand Najaf before calling a truce in August, "is not on the list," said Hussein Shahrastani, a member of the coalition's organizing committee.
Iranian-born Sistani has been overseeing the work of his to paides to compile the list for the Jan. 30 parliamentary election, in which Shiite parties are expected to perform strongly.
In the first popular vote since Saddam's ouster, Iraqis will choose a 275-member assembly that will write a permanent constitution.
Posted by mbowen at December 9, 2004 09:40 AM
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