Over the weekend, a variety of MSM outlets picked up a story implying that Iraq's leading Shiite clerics were calling for Islam to be the sole source of law in the new Iraq.
At a Paris press conference today, a young French poli.-sci. student asked Sec. of State Condi Rice what the U.S.-led coalition could or would do about this [C-SPAN TV coverage]. Rice responded with a hopeful wait and see, not categorically contradicting the student's premise, but implying that the political demands of Iraq's shiite population were neither monolithic nor set in stone.
The latest statement from Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Sistani, makes clear that he is not (currently) demanding a pure Islamic theocracy. Sistani's spokesman Hamed Khafaf criticized some of the earlier reporting on the subject.
Mr Khafaf said the speculation was baseless. He insisted that Ayatollah Sistani's position had not changed. In Ayatollah Sistani's view, his spokesman went on to say, it was up to the elected representatives of the people in the new National Assembly to decide the details [of the Iraqi constitution].
Stay tuned.
Posted by Andrew Coulson at February 8, 2005 02:10 PM | TrackBackThanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
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