Word: sunni
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...Suspicion over Tuesday's kidnapping immediately fell on the Shi'ite militias who have waged a massive campaign of sectarian kidnapping and murder. The kidnap bore many of the hallmarks of a militia operation, including the use of military uniforms and the targeting of Sunnis. Al-Ujaili is a member of the Iraqi Islamic Party, a Sunni organization, and some Shi'ites have accused him of filling his department with cosectarians. It is common for Iraqi ministries to recruit mainly from the sect of the minister concerned...
...There are Sunni ministries and Shi'ite ministres, and ours is known as a Sunni ministry," said one department official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak with journalists. "I'm not surprised we were hit, but I never expected it would be such a big operation." The minister said both Sunni and Shi'ites were taken in the raid. Unconfirmed reports said around a dozen were released later...
...same thing from a half dozen other Gulf Arab contacts I talked to the same day. Sure, they're all unhappy about Iraq. But what really concerns them is what happens when the U.S. packs up and leaves. The most likely scenario is an out-and-out civil war, Sunni against Shi'a, with Iran and Saudi Arabia eventually sucked in. And, by the way, can the United States stop Iran from occupying Iraq...
...right now, with the Sunni Arabs from the Gulf paying for many of the bombs that are blowing up Shi'a markets and mosques, you have to wonder if Baker is the right person to sort out the differences between Iraq's Shi'a and Sunni. Don't we have unconflicted, disinterested statesmen anymore...
...Since Siniora still has a majority, he could go on trying to run the country without participation from the Shi'a parties. The constitution specifies that the country's president must be Christian, its prime minister must be Sunni Muslim, and that the speaker of parliament must be Shi'a Muslim. It doesn't, however, say what the balance of the cabinet has to be. But it would be practically impossible for the government to have legitimacy and effectiveness without any Shi'a, who are, after all, the country's largest religious group...