Word: jaafari
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...frontrunner for the key position of Prime Minister is currently Dr. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, leader of the Shiite Islamist Dawa party. Jaafari is the favorite to win the nomination of the Shiite-dominated United Iraqi Alliance list, assembled under the auspices of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. His key rival for the job, economist Adel Abdel Mahdi of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), agreed to take himself out of the running. In exchange for backing the Dawa man, SCIRI will likely get a candidate of its own choosing into one of two vice presidencies, and also...
...Jaafari is a ?Shiite modernist,? according to an AFP profile carried in the Tehran Times. He has signaled a moderate Islamist position on questions of religion and the state, advocating that Islam be constitutionally recognized as Iraq's official religion and a source (but not the sole source) of legislation, and that no laws will be passed that contradict Islamic values. At the same time, he favors protection of minority religious and ethnic groups, and insists that the first priority of a new government is not only to be as inclusive as possible of those who participated in the election...
...Jaafari has made clear his intention to draw Sunni representatives into government at the highest level - although it remains to be determined exactly which Sunnis, and how they might be drawn in. Until now, the most prominent Sunni representative in government has been acting president Ghazi al-Yawer, whose party won only 6 seats. Shiite leaders have held talks with Yawer's group, but also with representatives of the Association of Muslim Scholars and the Iraqi Islamic Party, Sunni groups that boycotted the election. The combination of the boycott call and intimidation by the insurgents proved remarkably successful in keeping...
...faced with negotiating a relationship with a new government that reflects limited U.S. influence, and whose leaders enjoy historic ties with Iran. Jaafari's Dawa party, like the SCIRI, spent its exile years based largely in Iran, and while their leaders are careful to distinguish themselves from the Iranian approach to involving the clergy in politics, they nonetheless express a strong kinship with the Iranians. Even the Kurdish presidential nominee, Jalal Talabani, has historically enjoyed good relations with Tehran. While the new government in Iraq is unlikely to mimic Iran's theocracy, it is likely to assume a foreign policy...
...Regardless of the future of U.S.-Iran relations, however, a Jaafari-led government poses a unique set of challenges for Washington in the months ahead. While he has indicated that he has no plans to call for U.S. troops to withdraw from Iraq until such time as Iraqi forces are in a position to maintain security, many of his own supporters are pushing for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal - as are some of the Sunni groups to which he is reaching out. Jaafari has previously been sharply critical of U.S. military actions in Iraq, particularly during last August's confrontation...