Cleric hopes Islam basis for law in Iraq

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/12309372.htm

NAJAF, Iraq - The Iraqi prime minister said Friday that the country's leading Shiite Muslim cleric hopes the constitution being drawn up will enshrine Islam as the main source of legislation - something opposed by Kurds and some Iraqi women activists.

A younger radical Shiite cleric, meanwhile, urged Iraqis to participate in the constitutional process but added that he personally would not vote in elections planned for year's end because of the presence of foreign troops. snip

Al-Jaafari later met with radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who has toned down his opposition to the U.S.-led coalition since his supporters staged a failed uprising last year, and Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim, one of four Shiite grand ayatollahs but who does not have a high profile politically. snip

Al-Sadr also told reporters that every Iraqi should be involved in the constitutional process, although he added that he would not participate in the planned Dec. 15 elections.

"I will not take part in the presence of occupiers, but I will give the freedom to whoever wants to join," he said.



Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari (R) listens as Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr speaks to reporters in the holy city of Najaf on Friday. The PM also met Iraq's top Shia leader, Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, and said that the scholar had made several general comments about the text of the charter. - Reuters

[despairing optimist]

1. This just in, James Dobson: "If the Iraqis can do Allah, we can do Jesus"

How humanity converted God into an atheist. If religion can be the basis for law, why does it lead to so much hatred, chaos, and bloodshed? The older I get, the less I know.