Word: ite
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...ite and Kurdish politicians will hit the hustings in a bid to get their supporters to turn out in October to vote "yes" on the document. Sunni politicians and tribal leaders will do the same for a "no" vote, but it's unclear what the result will be. Under the terms of the Transitional Administrative Law, if two thirds of the voters in any three provinces vote "no," the charter is rejected, meaning that elections for a new parliament must be held and the process starts all over again. The Sunnis have majorities in four provinces, but in only...
...embarrassment for the United States' efforts here, it would be a blessing for Iraqis. The Sunnis could point to a political victory and then prepare for elections that would see them increase their representation in a future parliament. This would dilute the power of the religious Shi'ite parties, who the Sunnis view as cat's-paws Iran. But if the Sunnis feel they've taken part in a political process and elections - at great risk to their own lives - and still lose to the Shi'ites, there's a risk the Sunni population will give up entirely...
...There's no question the Americans have less influence than they had before. The Shi'ite parties in the negotiations - Dawa, SCIRI and Badr Organization - dug in their heels so much that President George W. Bush called SCIRI leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim to ask him for more flexibility. The president failed to convince the cleric. Other accounts say the Americans in the embassy gave up trying to broker deals two days before the parliament accepted the draft...
...disaster could provide fuel for efforts by Sunni opponents of the proposed constitution to court Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shi'ite cleric who has twice led armed uprisings against U.S. troops. The base of his support is in the Shi'ite slum of Sadr City, home to one-third of Baghdad's population. If al-Sadr called on his poor Shi'ite followers to join Sunnis in opposing the charter, it is likely it would be defeated. Abdul Salam al-Qubaisi, spokesman for the Association of Muslim Scholars, a hard-line Sunni group, claims al-Sadr is working...
...possible al-Sadr is using his flirtation with the Sunnis to win concessions from other Shi'ite leaders. Fattah al-Sheikh, a member of al-Sadr's movement, told TIME the cleric has not yet made a decision on the constitution. Though most Shi'ite leaders support it, al-Sadr in the past has criticized the idea of dividing Iraq into three autonomous regions, as called for in the constitution...