Word: ite
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...Thank Heaven for Political Opportunism. Emerging from a recent interview with the Shi'ite politician Hadi al-Ameri, I was greeted by an incredible sight in his waiting room: a Sunni member of parliament and two of his aides, performing their mid-day prayer ritual...
...understand how remarkable that is, consider that Ameri is the leader of the Badr Brigades, the Iran-trained Shi'ite militia affiliated with the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the largest Shi'ite political party. Sunnis fear and loathe the Badr Brigades almost as much as they do the dreaded Mahdi Army of Muqtada al-Sadr. While the Mahdi Army is blamed for most of the random street violence during the 2005-07 civil war, many Sunnis believe the Badr Brigades systematically assassinated Sunni politicians and community leaders. (Ameri and other Badr leaders deny this...
...powerful challenge from influential tribal sheiks in their own community. To counter the challenge of the sheiks' political organization, the established Sunni parties are reaching across sectarian lines for support. Come election day, they may need Ameri's help, especially in constituencies where there's a significant Shi'ite swing vote. For the same reason, the Sunni parties have also flirted with followers of al-Sadr...
...There has been growing discontent among Iraqi politicians over Maliki's bold style of leadership, which has upset both friends and foes alike. In recent weeks, he has antagonized his Shi'ite and Kurdish allies in the ruling coalition by setting up tribal councils that are widely viewed as a direct challenge to their power on the ground. Maliki's Sunni allies in the Tawafuk Front, the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc, have branded the Shi'ite prime minister as "another dictator". And Maliki remains at odds with Shi'ite opponents such as Moqtada al-Sadr, whose bloc of 28 lawmakers...
...Maliki's Shi'ite and Kurdish allies backed the pact, which requires that U.S troops redeploy out of Iraqi towns and cities to bases in the countryside by June of next year, and completely withdraw by the end of 2011. The Sunni Tawafuk bloc also gave it the nod, after securing concessions on its demands for an amnesty for detainees in U.S custody, and for the holding of a referendum on the security pact next July. A ?no' vote in that referendum could torpedo the deal, and give Washington one year's notice to leave, effectively bringing forward...