Word: sunni
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...occupation authority to be Iraq's first Prime Minister after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, has always billed himself as stridently secular. But when Iraqis were given the right to choose their leaders at the polls, Allawi lost out to the parties based on Shi'ite and Sunni identity. Since then, he and his party have been working to promote a more secular approach to Iraqi governance, and the preliminary returns released on Thursday for Iraq's provincial elections show they are making gains - at least relative to their marginalization in the two previous national elections. (See pictures...
...government had long depended. Initial tallies show that candidates loyal to the Prime Minister won comfortably in 10 of the 14 participating provinces, including Baghdad. They failed to win, however, in the largely Shi'ite province of Karbala, in the mixed provinces of Diyala and Nineveh, and in largely Sunni Anbar, where unresolved allegations of election fraud among rival Sunni contenders have left the province fearing an outbreak of violence...
...makeup of provincial councils that in turn elect regional governors. The political stakes in the vote were low compared to politicking at the national level. But the election took on added importance in the eyes of American and Iraqi officials, because it offered a chance for Iraq's Sunni minority, who boycotted the 2005 provincial elections, to rejoin the political process in areas where they have strong numbers such as Anbar and Diyala province. Election day was also seen as a key test for the Iraqi security forces, which staged a massive operation to secure the streets. Iraqi authorities...
...Next week's election is particularly contentious, since it will most likely dilute some of the power of Kurdish politicians in assemblies representing the disputed areas - Kurds are currently overrepresented relative to their share of the population, say U.S. officials, because Sunni Arabs largely boycotted the 2005 election. A more representative turnout will probably change the local balance of power, which could in turn affect the future negotiations over the status of these areas. That's why local Kurdish leaders are going to great lengths to get out the vote. A high-ranking Kurdish official in Diyala's Khanaqin district...
...foot and rocket or mortar fire pose the biggest threats. But so far there has been little sign that Iraq's militants are organizing a bloody show of force. The largest Shi'ite militia, the Mahdi Army of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, is essentially dormant these days. And Sunni insurgent elements in previously volatile areas such as Anbar and Diyala provinces appear to be, by and large, staying their hand in the expectation that sympathetic Sunni politicians - who boycotted the last provincial election, in 2005 - will take a number of seats from Kurdish and Shi'ite rivals and potentially reshape...