- BAGHDAD -- Four US soldiers
and intelligence officers were wounded and their Iraqi translator killed
when gunmen ambushed their convoy south of Baghdad yesterday.
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- The attack came as Iraq's US administrator, Paul Bremer,
set himself on a collision course with the country's most influential Shia
religious figure, by insisting that elections are not likely for at least
a year.
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- Amid vocal Shia demonstrations for national elections
soon to determine the shape of a government certain to have a Shia majority,
Bremer's comments will bring him into conflict with Grand Ayatollah Ali
al-Sistani.
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- In the past six months, Sistani has emerged as the figure
who many believe will determine Iraq's future.
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- What is likely to cause new friction is Sistani's insistence
that any delay before national elections 'should be brief', which would
be incompatible with Bremer's time-frame.
-
- Sistani had originally demanded direct elections before
the 30 June handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi transitional government,
but recently agreed that polls required adequate preparations.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://WWW.GUARDIAN.CO.UK/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1153496,00.html
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