BAGHDAD, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- High-ranking Iraqis are expressing both hopes of peace and concerns of disunity leading up to the country's first free elections scheduled for January.
In Baghdad, the nation's most powerful Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini ali Sistani, has threatened to withdraw his support for the elections unless changes are made to increase the representation of Shiites, the New York Times said Thursday.
Under an agreement reached among exile groups in the early 1990's, the Shiites were said to make up about 55 percent of the population. Sources say Sistani believes the Shiite population has swelled since then and therefore would be underrepresented on any list based on the 55 percent figure.
An association of Sunni clerics has already announced they will boycott the election.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari predicted to the Washington Times that the national elections will result in a dramatic reduction in the violence that is plaguing his country.
After the elections at the national, local and municipal levels, he said, the strategy would be to form "a government of national unity that would bring in the participation of many groups and trends."
