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Posted 10/17/2005 9:22 PM     Updated 10/17/2005 9:31 PM

Allawi, others push for secular control in Iraq
BAGHDAD — Former prime minister Ayad Allawi on Monday rallied secular politicians to join him in a united campaign for December elections as he warned Iraqis against a government dominated by religious clerics.

If Iraq's constitution is approved, a new government will be elected in December for a four-year term. A new National Assembly will be chosen and legislators will have an opportunity to modify the constitution.

Allawi lost his top government post after last January's elections, when a slate backed by the fundamentalist Shiite clerics won a majority in the Iraqi National Assembly. In the current government, Shiites are in a coalition with the more secular Kurds.

Allawi hopes to turn the country away from fundamentalism. He said Iraq's progress depends on "national unity and renouncing all types of religious fanaticism."

Sunni Arabs opposed the constitution and some hope to win enough seats in December's elections to rewrite parts of the document that they object to.

Sunnis mostly sat out January elections, but voted in higher numbers during the referendum, according to preliminary results from provinces with sizable Sunni populations.

But it's not clear they will be able to win enough seats in the next assembly to accomplish anything. Ivan Eland, an analyst at The Independent Institute in Washington, said that even if the Sunnis participate in December elections, the Shiites and Kurds will have a combined majority and no incentive to make changes in the constitution.

"This result is likely to make the Sunnis even more disillusioned and thus enflame the insurgency," he said.

But Allawi, a Shiite Muslim, hopes to bring Sunnis into a larger centrist movement that will rival fundamentalist Shiites. He has been courting Sunni Arabs who fear the Iranian-style theocracy that's already gripped parts of southern Iraq where Shiite fundamentalists dominate.

Appealing directly to the Sunnis, Allawi condemned the decision by the United States in 2003 to disband the Iraqi military, a decision that disproportionately threw Sunnis out of work. Sunnis represent 20% of Iraq's 26 million people, but dominated Iraq's ruling class for generations.

And Allawi called for the state to stop what he called revenge killings aimed at former members of Saddam's ruling Baath Party. Shiites and Sunnis have accused each other of carrying out such killings.

Among those attending Monday's "unity conference" were Ghazi al-Yawer, a moderate Sunni who served as president when Allawi was prime minister, Hamid Mousa, head of the Iraq Communist Party, and representatives from several smaller parties and moderate Sunnis groups.

Saleh Mahdi, 45, a Sunni and member of the Iraqi Sheik Council, said he could support Allawi, who he said was the type of strong leader "which is good for Iraq at least currently."

But some Sunnis say they can't forgive Allawi for supporting the U.S.-led military offensive in Fallujah during his tenure as prime minister.

"I was invited by Allawi to join his coalition but I cannot work with him ... because he sided with the occupiers and the invasion of Fallujah," said Misha'an al-Jibouri, head of the Sunni Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc.

Contributing: Wire reports

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