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THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: Some Major Players in the Iraq Elections

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Some Major Players in the Iraq Elections

Some of the major players in Iraq as it holds the first parliamentary elections under its new constitution Thursday:

ABDUL-AZIZ AL-HAKIM: The 55-year-old cleric, Iraq's most powerful politician, heads the United Iraqi Alliance, the Shiite Muslim coalition that aims to maintain its dominance of parliament. He once led a Shiite militia based in Iran and still has deep ties to Iraq's mostly Shiite neighbor. His power base is the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, currently the largest party in parliament. He prefers to operate behind the scenes, installing his ally, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, as prime minister after January elections.

GRAND AYATOLLAH ALI AL-SISTANI: Iraq's most powerful Shiite cleric, 75-year-old al-Sistani has signaled to his followers to vote for al-Hakim's Shiite-led alliance. The Iranian-born al-Sistani has shown his electoral power once already: In the January vote, his word brought out tens of thousands of Shiites in support of the coalition.

AYAD ALLAWI: Installed by the United States as prime minister after it returned sovereignty to Iraq in June 2004, Allawi was routed in January elections by religious Shiite parties. Allawi, born in 1945, is a secular Shiite who had ties to the CIA while leading exiled opposition to Saddam Hussein. He now heads a coalition of Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish moderates aiming to break the religious parties' hold.

ADNAN AL-DULAIMI: A Sunni Arab and head of General Conference for the People in Iraq. Al-Dulaimi, 73, was an Islamic studies professor at Baghdad University. After the fall of Saddam's regime he became head of the Sunni Endowments, the government top Sunni religious post. He then joined the General Conference for Sunnis. Running with the Iraqi Accordance Front.

MUQTADA AL-SADR: A popular leader among poor Shiites and son of a grand ayatollah believed killed by Saddam's forces in 1999, al-Sadr has become a major player in Iraq two years after thousands of his militiamen battled U.S. troops in two major uprisings. He was sought in the 2003 slaying of a senior Shiite cleric in Najaf but the warrant was shelved under a deal to end the fighting. Unlike mainstream Shiite parties, he wants an immediate end to the U.S. presence. Candidates from his movement, some participating in al-Hakim's alliance, are expected to fare well.

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