“We don't want this to turn into a theocracy,” Lieberman

Additional Reporting Imam El-Liethy, IOL Iraq Correspondent

WASHINGTON, April 21 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – As the U.S. administration was reportedly considering a long-term military presence in Iraq, U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut voiced Sunday, April 20, his misgivings about the possibility of setting up an Islamic regime in post-Saddam Iraq.

"Obviously, we don't want this to turn into a theocracy. We've got to work hard to win the peace in Iraq and transform the nation's political structure into a representative, democratic government," Lieberman told CBS's "Face the Nation" news show.

Lieberman couldn't put a timetable on how long troops will be in Iraq.

Pointing to the U.S. experiences in the Balkan wars in the '90s, he said, "deadlines are arbitrary."

Permanent Bases In Iraq

"We may, over the long term, establish some permanent bases in Iraq. And wouldn't that be a dramatic change, where we have an allied government there in Iraq, at the center of the Middle East," he said.

The running mate to former vice president Al Gore in the 2000 presidential race, reiterated that his decision to support the war a "matter of principle over politics," a stance likely to cost him votes with his party's energized, anti-war left flank.

Asked about concerns during the post-war reconstruction effort, Lieberman said: "We haven't seemed as ready as I had hoped we would have been."

He said he has been urging all along the lifting of sanctions and speedy provision of humanitarian aid.

"I hope that we can now move more quickly to achieve those ends," he said.

As for Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction, which have not been found and which represented the rationale for the U.S.-led invasion, Lieberman said, "I am convinced and remain convinced" that Saddam had such weapons.

"We know he used them earlier. We know he had enormous quantities that were never accounted for. And that's why we've got to continue to look for them. He clearly hid them. We'll find them eventually."

The senator from Connecticut backs better relations with Syria, hoping that aggressive diplomacy and the threat of economic sanctions would have an impact.

A rapprochement, Lieberman said, "would be one of the best results to come from our victory in Iraq over Saddam Hussein. Remember that Syria had the closest relations of any of Iraq's neighbours with Saddam."

For his part, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar said the U.S. effort -- led by Iraq’s civil administrator retired Gen. Jay Garner -- to begin rebuilding post-war Iraq had "started very late" and gaps were being filled by Shiite Muslims and others who seek a theocratic state.

"I would think at least we ought to be thinking of a period of five years of time. Now, that may understate it," Lugar, an Indiana Republican, told NBC's "Meet the Press" program on Sunday.

Anti-Garner Demos

In another development, senior Muslim clergy in Iraq called on Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Monday, April 21, to act in unison and let bygones be bygones.

Converging on Al-A’zamia district in Baghdad, the clergymen decided to demonstrate before Palestine Hotel on Monday and the Mosque of Abdul Qader al-Gelani on Friday, April 25, in protest at the arrival of U.S. civil administrator of post-war Iraq retired Gen. Jay Garner.

“You (Muslims) the overwhelming majority in Iraq and the U.S. troops cannot trespass on you when the new Iraqi government is formed. We must leave no room for sectarian sedition of which our Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him) warned,” IslamOnline.net quoted head of Iraq’s Muslims society Sheikh Ahmad al-Kabessi as addressing a crowd of Shiites and Sunnis.

Garner arrived in the Iraqi capital Monday to kick off his mission of "rebuilding" the war-battered country after the ouster of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein.