Word: shying
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, the stampede in Baghdad that killed nearly 1,000 Shi'ite pilgrims last week may become a political calamity as well. The stampede was set off by rumors that a suicide bomber was about to blow himself up on the bridge leading to one of the city's most sacred Shi'ite shrines. Now public outrage at the government's handling of the disaster has raised the possibility that voters will express their anger by rejecting Iraq's proposed constitution when it comes up for a vote in October...
...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...
...Shi'ite pilgrims and Sunnis remained united in one important aspect: they both blamed the tragedy on the Shi'ite-dominated government, which had failed to anticipate the number of pilgrims before the stampede, and made a hash of relief efforts afterward. Especially angry were Baghdad's Shi'ites; in Sadr City, mass funerals quickly turned into anti-government demonstrations. Dismissing Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari's announcement of a three-day mourning period for the victims as mere eyewash, many called for his resignation and for that of his ministers for defense and the interior...
...Jaafari and his ministers are safe in office for the moment. But the rage generated by the stampede could hurt the government on Oct. 15, when Iraqis hold a referendum on the highly contentious new constitution. The dominant Shi'ite parties may find it a hard sell to a populace angered by official ineptitude and callousness...
...confident they can get the numbers in two?Anbar and Salah ad Din?but their hopes for the third, Baghdad, rest on Muqtada al-Sadr and his two million followers in Sadr City. The A.M.S.'s al-Qubaisi says his group is already working with al-Sadr to persuade Shi'ites to vote against the constitution. The relationships forged during last week's tragedy and the goodwill generated by the Sunnis of Adhamiya could yet yield a political payoff...