Talabani (C) and council members Ahmad Chalabi (L) and Adnan Pachachi

Additional reporting by Subhy Haddad, IOL Correspondent

BAGHDAD, November 29 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Iraqi U.S.-installed interim governing council held key talks Saturday, November 29, on demands from the powerful Shiite religious hierarchy for immediate elections that have undermined the credibility of American plans for power transfer in the occupied oil-rich Arab country.

The Shiites are not the only party against the agreement - put forward by the U.S.-led occupation authority and approved by its handpicked council on November 15.

Iraqi Sunnis, political parties and even some members of the Governing Council itself voiced their rejection of the blueprint.

A sharp criticism by the leading Shiite scholar, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, was followed by young Shiite firebrand scholar Muqtada Al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr, in his Friday prayer sermon, attacked the agreement as well as the flying visit to Baghdad by U.S. President George Bush, asserting it was “rejected both legally and practically.”

He echoed the demands of Sistani, who stressed that the agreement - stipulating the formation of a provisional government to supervise the drafting of a new constitution to be followed by general elections - be preceded by “elections based on the so-called Rational List.”

The Rational List was established by the former regime of deposed President Saddam Hussein and the U.N. oil-for-food authority, containing names of all Iraqi citizens who were getting foodstuff and other essential commodities according to the U.N.-brokered program, concluded in 1996.

A number of Sunni scholars, in their Friday prayer sermons, also lashed out at the agreement, describing it as “an attempt to extend the U.S.-British occupation of Iraq.”

Along with the Shiite and Sunni scholars, at least 5 Iraqi nationalist and democratic parties, issued a statement copy of which was obtained by IOL, charging that the accord was concluded “without consulting Iraq’s political, social, religious and other civilian community forces.”

“The accord did not include any article expressing respect for the Islamic identity of the majority of the Iraqi people. There is an absence of any note on the federal and decentralization goals, particularly the situation in Iraqi Kurdistan,” the statement said.

It was signed by leaders of the Iraqi National Coalition Movement, the National Independence Party, Arab National Democratic Movement, Iraqi Democratic Federation, Iraqi Unified Democratic Gathering and a number of other parties.

Even the Iraqi Communist Party (ICP, represented in the Governing Council by its Secretary General Hamid Majid Mousa), issued a statement describing the accord as: “An attempt to extend the occupation and not the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq.”

“The accord envisages the division of Iraq into 9 semi-independent states, free from any civil rights, thus returning Iraq to a situation similar to that which followed the Mongol (Hulago) invasion of Iraq in the dark ages,” the ICP statement said.

Another member of the 25-person Council, Mowafaq Al-Rube’i, said he had not seen the contents of the accord: “prepared by U.S. Civil Administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer and five members of the council led by Jalal Talabani, during a recent visit to the U.S.”

Council Member Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), also said he did not see the contents of the accord, describing it as: “Mere ideas waiting for discussion by the Governing Council!”

In its first comments on Sistani’s statement, the National Reconciliation Movement led by Council Member Ayad Allawi, expressed doubt that “elections suggested by the Grand Ayatollah could take place within 6 months.”

Council Discussions

Sistani rejected the arcane system of indirect selection by caucus

Meanwhile, the Governing Council has been deeply divided by Sistani's rejection of the arcane system of indirect selection by caucus it announced two weeks ago to put a caretaker government in place by June next year, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We're going to discuss Ayatollah Sistani's proposal and Council President Jalal Talabani will inform him of the results of our discussions," council member Rajaa Khuzai, a Shiite member, told AFP ahead of Saturday morning meetings.

The U.S.-led occupation authority too has been caught on the hop by opposition from among Iraq's majority community and admitted it considers the complaint significant enough for a major overhaul of the November 15 agreement signed with Talabani to be under consideration.

U.S. officials said they were discussing the demands of the Shiite religious leadership with the interim leadership as part of what they described as a "healthy" debate.

But off the record, a senior official told the Washington Post that the prior polls, which the occupation authorities have so far resisted, were now a "possibility" and appeared to give Sistani a veto over their newly unveiled plans.

"If he says no to the caucuses, then we have to figure out a way to get elections done," the official was quoted as saying by the Post. "We're scrambling to find a solution."

Transition Blueprint

Following are details of the November 15 agreement, dubbed the agreement on political process:

End-Feb 28, 2004: A Fundamental Law, drafted by the Governing Council in close consultation with the so-called Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) is to be passed for the administration of the state during the transitional period, including procedures for the election of a transitional assembly.

It will also establish a timetable for the drafting of Iraq's permanent constitution, the ratification of the constitution and the holding of general elections under the new constitution.

End-March 2004: Agreements between the U.S.-installed Iraqi interim Governing Council and the CPA to define the status of the occupation forces in Iraq, "giving wide latitude to provide for the safety and security of the Iraqi people."

End-May 2004: Selection of a transitional assembly by caucuses of each of Iraq's 18 provinces convened by representatives of the provinces, municipalities and the interim leadership.

The CPA will supervise the selection process.

End-June 2004: Selection of a provisional government by the transitional assembly and recognition by the CPA.

The Governing Council in place since July 13, 2003 and the CPA dissolve.
   
March 15, 2005: A convention to be directly elected by the Iraqi people to draft a permanent constitution.

The constitution is put to a popular referendum.
   
End-2005: General elections for a new government according to the provisions of the new constitution.