Al Sistani Rejects the Federation and stresses the Unity of Iraq

[ECH1969]

Najaf – His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Al Sayyid Ali Al Sestani has issued a statement, which read, "In the name and Blessings of Allah we have found that the federation set in the constitution draft is division among your brothers in the north, center and south, marginalization for your unity, loss of your traditions and remoteness of your religion. The occupant desires to see you weak and desperate."

The statement confirmed, "The Sunnis are your family. Stay by their side this time so that they stay by your side in the coming times. Consider them as your brothers and sons and do not bear any grudges within you because of the injustice of the past, as both of you were victims."

http://www.almendhar.com/english_5724/news_print.aspx
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Sistani just slammed the current Constitution hard. This will force them to change it or kill it.

[sabra]

1. But but Bush, Blair, Condi, et al praised it as a success for democracy!

</sarcasm>

[sniffa]

2. he caLLed the Liberators, 'occupants'

and i thought he was our friend. :cry:

[leftchick]

19. he has been for the removal of the occupants all along

he has never strayed from that.

[FloridaPat]

3. Glad to see his concern the sisters there.

[Teaser]

5. What?

nt

[FloridaPat]

7. The line about the brothers. Their new constitution only mentions

brother and men. Women are ignored - again. At least the few parts of the constitution I can get a hold of.

"In the name and Blessings of Allah we have found that the federation set in the constitution draft is division among your brothers in the north, center and south, marginalization for your unity, loss of your traditions and remoteness of your religion. The occupant desires to see you weak and desperate."

[Teaser]

15. The arabic for "brother"

can also mean "persons belonging to a particular group" or even "persons belonging to a religious society"

[FloridaPat]

21. Thank you. I will not get too upset then when I see the finished product.

[Teaser]

4. The Shi'ah on the drafting committee

have already ignored several Sistani edicts. I have to wonder if it's some kind of intra-shi'ah power play.

The statement is just vague enough for the SCIRI types to claim that they, too, are for the unity of Iraq.

If Sistani wants to scuttle this for certain, he needs to abandon his circumspect way of speaking.

[Roy]

8. Did he only made a two paragraph statement?

Seems kinda short for a Cleric of his standing on such an important matter.

Is this stand a hint that the majority of Iraqis see this body, as a whole mostly puppets without the interest of Iraq in mind?

what does this mean for this process?

[Teaser]

11. I'm not convinced this is real...

for that reason and others. Sistani quotes have a way of being posted to various sites on the web.

I don't remember Sistani's web site. If I did, maybe I could see if the statements there. Test my ability to translate.

[Dhalgren]

6. Well this just keeps on getting better and better for the Emperor,

doesn't it? I mean, how in the name of all the gods can he spin this set back? And make no mistake, this will kill this version of the Iraqi "constitution", and even the Emperor's media lick-spittles can't come up with a way that this is "progress".

"Stay by their side this time so that they stay by your side in the coming times." If you didn't get a chill down your spine reading this line, you weren't paying attention...

[Teaser]

9. Not sure about killing it.

It has a chance to, but apart from almendhar and Xinhua (12 hours ago) I don't see this reported too many places.

A lot of times statements are acribed to asSistani that aren't actually said. Usually these get some media attention and then disappear down the memory hole.

But even if it is his statement, it's vague enough that SCIRI can claim the constitution draft does meet these requirements.

SCIRI has never liked kowtowing to Sistani. We'll have to see if this (if real) is the sign of a larger break or not.

[kentuck]

10. This is definitely a knife in the heart of the plan....

to take control of the oil of Iraq.

[underpants]

12. We now enter the "Sistani moves for power" section of our tour

okay group stay with me.. we are walking we are walking....

[Teaser]

13. Sistani's Statements

Can be found in english here

No sign of this one, but there is a refutation of a previous false attribution to Sistani. So it does happen.

I'm looking at the arabic now, but I doubt I'll have time to translate it until tonight...

[Teaser]

16. ARGHH help!

Anyone know how to make the damn text stop scrolling? I can't translate moving text!

[bemildred]

14. This throws his support to al Sadr and his minions.

And puts down the SCIRI guys.
Stay tuned.

[necso]

17. I have been looking for another source and link,

but so far no luck. (I intend to keep checking from time to time.) If true, this is an extremely important bit of news (although it's only from this single source as far as I have been able to determine -- so caveat emptor), and it will be interesting to see how widely this gets reported.

If this constitution gets "passed", and the results of the referendum are questionable due to obvious fraud -- or because of the problems opponents have in voting -- then it could turn very ugly. (A ceasefire could go a long way to prevent this.)

And, of course, the (our) powers-that-be are desperate (to appear) to adhere to a timeframe that includes the constitution being passed.

[leftchick]

18. he is agreeing with al-sadr

al-sadr's followers have been protesting the constitution alongside the Sunnis. chimpy** is in a heap of trouble.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

20. Even the ink-finger lady at Bush's State Of The Union speech

is rejecting the new constitution. Safia Taleb al-Suhail, the lady who sat next to Laura Bush at the Chimp's State Of The Union Speech, who caused Republicans to orgasm when she held up her ink-stained finger and hugged the mother of a fallen U.S. soldier is now blasting the Bush Administration. She is stating that the new constitution being pushed through by the Bush Administration has sold out the women of Iraq, affording them fewer rights than they had under Saddam.

http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050826/bush_abandons_iraqi_women.php

"...According to a Reuters report, Suhail, who is now Iraq's ambassador to Egypt, believes that the draft Iraqi constitution represents a major setback for the women of her country.

"When we came back from exile, we thought we were going to improve rights and the position of women," she said. "But look what has happened -- we have lost all the gains we made over the last 30 years. It's a big disappointment."

She is concerned -- as many Iraqis are -- that the draft constitution allows religious sects to run Iraq's family courts, likely leaving decisions about divorce, inheritance and other issues important to women in the hands of Islamic clerics. "This will lead to creating religious courts," she said. "But we should be giving priority to the law."

Suhail said the United States has sold out Iraq's women in the drive to get a constitution -- any constitution -- approved by Iraq's National Assembly. "We have received news that we were not backed by our friends, including the Americans," she said. "They left the Islamists to come to an agreement with the Kurds."