Top Shiite cleric urges Iraqis to vote on Jan. 31

[January 19, 2009]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric on Monday called on Iraqis to go to the polls in this month's elections but stressed he was not supporting any particular candidates.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani enjoys massive support among Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims, and his statement appeared designed to distance himself from religious parties trying to create the impression they have his support.

"The religious leadership stands an equal distance away from all candidates in these elections, but it stresses at the same time that voters must, after thorough checks and examination, choose those who are worthy of becoming members of provincial councils," he said.

He said worthy candidates must be efficient, honest and sincere.

The councils manage the day to day affairs of Iraq's provinces and when the current members were chosen in 2005, the minority Sunnis largely boycotted elections. New councils with a more equitable distribution of seats representing society's makeup are considered a vital step in restoring political stability to the country.

The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Iraq's largest Shiite party, has in past elections used al-Sistani's image on campaign posters to rally the cleric's supporters to its cause. But the use of religious symbols or sites in campaigning has been banned in the upcoming provincial elections.

Iraqis are set to choose members of ruling councils in 14 of the 18 provinces on Jan. 31. More than 14,000 candidates are running for 444 council seats.

Even as preparations for the elections moved ahead, Iraq's political process suffered another setback. The parliament announced it was adjourning until next month after failing to choose a new speaker.

The Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani resigned on Dec. 23 amid widespread complaints about his erratic behavior, leaving the key post vacant for nearly a month.

His replacement must be a Sunni Arab under a system that distributes key positions to the different religious and ethnic communities. But the main Sunni bloc, the Iraqi Accordance Front, has been unable to agree on a candidate.

Deputy parliament speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, a Shiite, said sessions would be adjourned until Feb. 3, and a secret vote on various nominees would be held the next day.

A winner will be chosen if there's a clear majority. If not, a second round will be held on Feb. 5, he said in a statement issued after intense talks among the political blocs.

The U.S. military has warned that insurgents are expected to step up attacks in the days surrounding the Jan. 31 vote, and sporadic elections-related violence has been reported.

A roadside bomb struck a crew of Iraqis putting up posters for a Shiite candidate late Sunday in eastern Baghdad, wounding eight people.

Latif Abu Mohammed, a 37-year-old construction worker who was wounded in his chest and leg, said the crew had been waiting until nightfall to put up campaign posters to avoid being spotted by rival parties.

He said the workers had hung about 12 posters before the blast occurred.

"We are construction workers hired by a candidate to put his portraits on walls. We have nothing to do with politics," he said. "Last week we did the same work twice for the same candidate in Sadr City and nothing happened to us."

In other violence, a bomb attached to a car exploded Monday in a mainly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad, killing a police officer who was on his way to work at a passport office and wounding seven other people, police and hospital officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

[Associated Press; By HAMID AHMED]

Associated Press writer Qassim Abdul-Zahra contributed to this report.

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