Iraqi Cleric Urges Crackdown on Arms (weak US leadership a problem)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3287461,00.html

AP: Iraqi Cleric Urges Crackdown on Arms

Monday October 20, 2003 7:31 PM
By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's most influential Shiite Muslim cleric warned of ``grave problems'' if nothing is done to stem the proliferation of firearms in the country and blamed clashes between his supporters and followers of a radical cleric on the weakness of Iraq's U.S.-backed authorities.

In written comments given Sunday to The Associated Press, Grand Ayatollah Ali Hussein al-Sistani, spiritual leader of most of Iraq's Shiite majority, also said there could be ``no substitute'' for a general election to choose delegates to a convention to draft a new constitution despite U.S. demands for a quicker selection process.
The U.S.-led coalition has repeatedly stated its preference for a faster method to choose the delegates - such as having the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council select from a list of legal experts put forward by tribal and other leaders. Coalition officials believe choosing them by general election would take too long.
A U.N. Security Council resolution adopted unanimously this month sets a Dec. 15 deadline for the Governing Council to come up with a timeline for adopting a constitution and holding national elections.
However, the Governing Council has been unable to agree on a formula for choosing delegates to the constitutional convention. <snip>

Al-Sistani's demand for measures against illegal arms possession appeared to be a call on U.S. and Iraqi authorities to take action against the Imam al-Mahdi Army, a militia set up by firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, whose members fought nightlong battles against al-Sistani's supporters a week ago in the holy Shiite city of Karbala.
Al-Sadr, a populist cleric whose militant message appeals to poor and young Shiites but who lacks al-Sistani's scholarly weight, has been flaunting his army recently, allowing recruits to parade with their firearms in Najaf and Karbala as well as in a Shiite-dominated Baghdad district.

Members of the Imam army are thought to be responsible for the deaths of two U.S. soldiers in an ambush in Baghdad on Oct. 9. Pentagon officials have since spoken about al-Sadr as a ``threat'' to the U.S.-led occupation authorities and of preparations to take action against him. Al-Sistani, however, appeared to place the blame on the coalition and U.S.-backed Iraqi authorities.``What happened in holy Karbala ... was the result of the absence of an effective and powerful central authority and the existence of a large number of weapons in the hands of unruly individuals.``There may be new grave problems if measures are not taken,'' he said. <Snip>

It's always fun when the occupied peoples use the occupier to carry out their dirty work..a la Afghanistan.