Thousands turn out to back Ayat Sistani's election call

By: Hamoud Kufi

BASRA, Iraq: Tens of thousands of Iraqi demonstrators on Thursday streamed to the streets of southern city of Basra to support Ayatullah Ali Al-Husseini As-Sistani's demand for early general elections, as preparations were in progress for next week talks at the UN on the country's future.

An estimated 30,000 protestors shouting “Yes, yes to Sistani; no, no to selection” gathered in answer to a call by Ali Abdul Karim Safi Al-Mussawi, a representative of Ayatullah Sistani.

Ayatullah Sistani has objected to US plans for a transitional Iraqi assembly to be selected by regional caucuses rather than an election. The assembly will select an interim government that is due to take over sovereignty by end-June as outlined in a November agreement between the US-led coalition and the Governing Council.

Iraqi police were seen everywhere as helicopters of the British forces, which command Basra, hovered overhead.

According to witnesses a bomb was found on a street in Basra close to where the protesters were gathering, and British troops sealed off the area while they prepared to destroy the device in a controlled explosion.

US officials say the country cannot hold elections until 2005. Iraq's US overseer Paul Bremer has said he respects Sistani, but that there is not enough time to hold elections before the handover of sovereignty.

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