Word: shi'a
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...results currently are so close - with current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki neck-and-neck with former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, and the movement of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr emerging with what may be a kingmaker's share of the vote - that Iraq could see months of deadlock that will do little to boost the country's faith in its politicians. Moreover, the election results have broken down along depressingly familiar sectarian and the ethnic fault lines - although with the authority of the traditional ethnic and sectarian parties weakening in a manner that will further complicate efforts...
...Virtues of Compromise These issues are political dynamite. Devolving power to Kurdistan or to the Shi'ite south - the two safest, richest parts of Iraq - could reignite the civil war between Shi'ites and Sunnis or start an additional one between Arabs and Kurds. But to centralize all power in a country with a history of totalitarianism has its own perils. That's why Iraqis will be watching their elections closely: not just to see the results but also to gauge whether their leadership class can accept the outcome of the vote and move forward peacefully. That will...
...sectarianism is resurfacing as the election nears. Dozens of bodies are turning up daily in the morgues of Baghdad and Mosul, including some with their heads cut off, a signature al-Qaeda calling card. Mortar shells are falling once again on the International Zone, probably the handiwork of radical Shi'ite militias. "After 2003, Iraqi politics got so complicated, with so many parties, and so many foreign countries got involved that it's like the whole political scene is built on straw," says Hazem Shammari, a professor of political science at Baghdad University. "If one thing goes wrong...
...formerly exiled leader of the Iraqi National Congress - an anti-Saddam dissident group - helped the Pentagon plan the invasion of Iraq and was the candidate of U.S. neoconservatives to be the country's new leader. Chalabi fell out with the U.S. in 2004 and has reinvented himself as a Shi'ite nationalist allied with the Sadrists. As the co-head of a secretive government de-Baathification committee, Chalabi helped orchestrate the banning of about 500 mostly Sunni candidates from running in the election, a move that revived fears of a return to sectarian violence. "The Americans say they came here...
...Much as they may enjoy their democracy, many Iraqis are concerned about who will fill the vacuum. Iran, for example. Tehran watched with glee as the U.S. toppled its archenemy Saddam, but worried that it was the next candidate for regime change, the Islamic Republic has supported anti-American Shi'ite militias and political parties ever since. Iran won't be the only country likely to flex its muscles after the election. Turkey - which has a restive Kurdish minority of its own - will try to block any further devolution of power to Kurdistan. And last month, Saudi Arabia's King...