Iraq Militias Push Voter Sign-Up

[MattSWin]

By Ellen Knickmeyer and Omar Fekeiki
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, August 22, 2005; A11



BAGHDAD, Aug. 21 -- Two major armed factions opposed to Iraq's still unfinished constitution on Sunday ordered their followers to register for an upcoming vote on the new charter, with one faction urging a vote against it and the other telling supporters to wait for further orders. "Rejecting the constitution will defeat the American plan in Iraq," Ansar al-Sunna, the most prominent Sunni insurgent movement to join the call for voter registration, said in a statement. Voting amounts to "jihad against the Americans," it said.

The rebellious Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, who leads the other faction, told his followers to register ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline but to "wait for our order to come later on whether to vote or not." Sadr issued his statement after residents of the Shiite holy city of Najaf asked what they should do.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/21/AR2005082100158_pf.html

[leQ]

1. they finally figured it out .....

now all they have to do is make sure nobody cheats.

[merwin]

2. ordering their followers to register to vote?

Kind of defeats the purpose of a "democracy" if you're forced to do it.

[VegasWolf]

3. No fear, Diebold is here! Want to bet the Sunnis get the new Diebold

machines?