Iraqi leaders wrangle for leadership post
Shiite alliance candidate says he has backing of top cleric
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- One of the leading contenders for Iraq's prime minister post told reporters on Friday that he had picked up the backing of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the senior Shiite cleric in Iraq.
Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the United Iraqi Alliance's choice for the job, met with al-Sistani Friday in Najaf.
"The grand ayatollah congratulated the Iraqi people on the outcome of the elections despite the difficult circumstances, and he said this proved to the world that these are people who believe in the election process and who believe in the democratic process," al-Jaafari said.
"He also congratulated and supported the election process within the United Iraqi Alliance on the subject regarding the prime minister," he said. "And he respects and supports the decision."
Al-Sistani's people had no comment on the assertion.
The ayatollah has supported the Shiite-led alliance, which came in first in last month's elections and earned 140 seats in the 275-member national assembly.
Al-Jaafari said that he was trying to be inclusive, that he and al-Sistani discussed "the participation of many classes of Iraqi society who did not take part in the election under exceptional circumstances," an apparent reference to the Sunni Arabs who in large part stayed away from the polls.
Regarding the issue of writing a constitution for Iraq, al-Jaafari said "We are in front of many drafts which show the basic law. The positive points will be taken into consideration, then submitted in a joint draft by parliament. It will then will be reviewed in front of the Iraqi people and Iraqi people will decide."
Interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, the man al-Jaafari is hoping to replace, told CNN on Thursday that as a secular politician, he feels he is more qualified than a religious candidate to help shape the new government.
Allawi's slate of candidates won 40 seats in the elections, but he said he is putting together a coalition that includes some Kurds and United Iraqi Alliance members.
"I don't believe that political Islam should be ruling Iraq. I think this probably would be problematic," he said.
Although the United Iraqi Alliance has a slim majority of seats in the assembly, a government must be approved with a two-thirds vote, requiring the establishment of parliament-style coalitions.
The Kurdish alliance, which came in second and won 75 seats, wants to preserve the sections of the interim constitution that allow three of 18 provinces to veto measures. That gives power to the Kurds -- who dominate in Dahuk, Arbil and Sulaymaniya provinces.
The Kurds also want control of oil-rich Kirkuk, the historically Kurdish city outside the Kurdish region.
Kurdish officials want to see how al-Jaafari responds to their demands before they issue support for a prime ministerial candidate.
