"We will not take part in any government that is imposed on us," said Hakim

BAGHDAD, April 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Iraq's main Shiite opposition group reiterated that the people of Iraq would not accept a government imposed by U.S. forces after the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

"We will not take part in any government that is imposed on us," vice president of the  Iran-based Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI) Abdul Aziz al-Hakim told several hundred followers at a Shiite Muslim mausoleum in central Baghdad.

Hakim returned to Iraq from Iranian exile few days ago but had until now remained in predominantly Shiite areas south of the capital, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

In Baghdad he preached the same message he had given earlier this week at a Shiite mass pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala, notably that "Iraqis are capable of governing themselves" and that "any solution imposed on Iraq would lead to instability."

The crowd at the mausoleum had chanted "No, no to America, no, no to Saddam" as they waited for him to arrive.

Huge crowds of Shiites surged through the holy city of Karbala last week and  chanted slogans against a U.S.-imposed government during a commemoration of the of the death of Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammed's grandson.

Hakim said this week that the Karbala pilgrimage proved Iraq did not need the U.S. civil administration headed by retired general Jay Garner, and called for the establishment of a "national democratic government elected by the Iraqis."

Garner said earlier in the day that the formation of a post-Saddam government would start next week, but he failed to say who would be serving on it or how they would be chosen.

 “A Just Muslim”

Another Shiite scholar spelled out conditions for the future government and constitution of Iraq, saying the ruler should be a Muslim and the laws in line with Islam.

Sheikh Mohammed Yacubi said Iraq's most influential Shiite seminary in the holy city of An-Najaf, known as the Hawza, has agreed on those principles and will lobby for them in talks to form an interim government.

"What's required is that the ruler should be a just Muslim, whether he is a member of the Hawza or not," Yacubi told a crowd of more than 10,000 worshippers at Baghdad's largest Shiite mosque.

"And he should not take any decision that contradicts holy law."

Major Shiite groups have thus far boycotted U.S.-sponsored meetings to lay the groundwork for the future Iraqi government.

The interim government "will be tasked with restoring normal life, drafting a constitution that guarantees freedom, independence and human rights, and organising free elections to form a government and a parliament," Yacubi said.

To guarantee that the constitution is in line with Islam, "a committee of theologians of both the Sunni and Shiite will supervise the drafting and reject any chapter that contradicts Islamic law," he said.

Yacubi made passing reference to the U.S. occupation of Iraq, saying that "others are trying to form a government that will serve their interests."

During a massive pilgrimage to the holy city of Karbala earlier this week, all three main Shiite religious currents voiced opposing to the U.S. occupation but agreed that resistance should be peaceful, at least for now.

They also agreed not to call for an Iranian-styled Islamic republic, and instead to push for a "democratic government elected by the Iraqis."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld ruled out an Iran-style religious government in Iraq, as U.S. President George W. Bush wants a government in Iraq that is democratic, multiethnic, maintains Iraq's territorial integrity.

"If you're suggesting, how would we feel about an Iranian-type government with a few clerics running everything in the country, the answer is: That isn't going to happen," Rumsfeld said.

“Shiite Government”

The United States would accept a government run by Iraq' s Shiite majority, if it is put in place democratically, former U.S. secretary of state Henry Kissinger said in an interview published in Morocco Friday.

"I am convinced the United States would accept a Shiite government in Iraq, if it is born out of democratic processes," Kissinger told Maroc-Hebdo weekly in an interview given in New York.

"Given that the Shiite are in the majority in Iraq, I don't see how the White House can oppose their accession to power," the U.S. statesman said, adding: "That's democracy."

He also played down the risks of a Shiite regime in Iraq joining forces with neighbouring Iran to form a coalition against the United States.

"During the Iraq-Iran war, Iraqi Shiites defended Baghdad's interests, not Teheran's," he said.

Regarding the U.S. presence in Iraq, Kissinger said he did not expect it to exceed two years.

"History has shown that we have never been conquerors," he said.

The United States, apparently alarmed at the possibility of Iraq's majority Shiites taking their lead from neighboring Iran, said it had warned Tehran against "interfering" with its co-religionists in Iraq.

"We've made clear to Iran that we would oppose any outside interference in Iraq's road to democracy," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.