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Dr. Mohammed Bashar al-Faidi, spokesman of the Association of Muslim Scholars
Facing the prospect of a Shiite Muslim landslide, Iraq's leading Sunni clerics group has demanded the U.S. to present a timetable for its troops pullout from the country as the price of their participation in drawing up a new constitution. After it held talks with the UN special envoy Ashraf Qazi, the Committee of Muslim Scholars announced it was wiling to participate in drafting a new constitution, provided a consensus was found on a date for the departure of U.S-led troops. "We told him (Qazi) that we had conditions and that we would discuss them with the parties that boycotted the polls and would put forward a common stance," said spokesman Omar Ragheb. "These demands focus on reaching a consensus with all political parties on a withdrawal of foreign forces," he added. The committee, which called previously on the Iraqi Sunnis to boycott the country’s elections, showed willingness it would try and stop Sunni Arab rebel attacks if its demands were met. "Then, the country's elders will tell the resistance: 'No need to spill more blood'," Ragheb said. Meanwhile, 24 people were killed in separate incidents in Iraq, the latest wave of violence to rock the country. 16 people were killed in Iraq in a string of attacks and battles, including a tribal leader, one of three people gunned down in fighting between Iraqi rebels and U.S. troops near the Iraqi city of Ramadi. Also the bodies of two Iraqi soldiers were found in the city, said another police officer, who demanded anonymity. in the largely Shiite city of Basra, four Iraqi soldiers perished in a rare bomb attack, when a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded. Also Saturday, a roadside bomb killed two U.S. troops and wounded four the Sunni Arab heartland north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. Six people, including three Iraqi soldiers and two children were killed in separate incidents in Samarra. Preliminary results of the Iraqi elections put a religious Shi'ite coalition in the lead with two thirds of the poll, based on results from 35 percent of voting centers.
The Shiite alliance expected to win a commanding victory in Iraq's election will insist that one of its members be appointed the country's next prime minister, said a senior official in the alliance on Saturday. "Shiites want the prime ministership, we are insisting on it and will not give it up," Deputy Foreign Minister Hamed al-Bayati said. Bayati is a senior official in the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
SCIRI is one of the key players in the United Iraqi Alliance, the group of mainly Shiite parties that won strong support from Iraq's 60 percent Shi'ite majority in last Sunday's elections. If the alliance demands the prime ministership, it will be a blow to Prime Minister Iyad Allawi who had hoped to be picked again as a compromise candidate.
"The United Iraqi Alliance list has some candidates. The names are not finally agreed on yet because they are still discussing the qualifications and conditions of the prime minister," Bayati said.
Candidates under consideration are Deputy President Ibrahim Jaafari, leader of the Dawa party which is part of the alliance, as well as SCIRI official Adel Abdul Mahdi, who is finance minister, and Ahmad Chalabi.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, the main Kurdish bloc, expected to also have a strong showing in the election results, said it would demand that its candidate Jalal Talabani, head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, be appointed either as president or prime minister.
Bayati said the naming of the president must be agreed upon between the three main ethnic and religious groups: Shiites, Kurds and Sunni Arabs. If the Kurds got the presidency, a Sunni Arab could be named head of the new National Assembly, he added. "The name of the president has to be agreed on between Shi'ites, Sunnis and Kurds, but if the Kurds want this post they have to please the Sunnis and agree with them on that," he said. Related stories... Early election results: Shiite coalition leads
'''February 7, 2005'''

Iraq
Iraq – With a strong lead in a pre-weekend partial report, Shi'a leaders have begun making known their interests in a Shiite Prime Minister. Others have spoken of the negotiations for the constitution. Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Ishaq al-Fayad is quoted saying the separation of religion and state must be "completely rejected."

"All of the Ulema (clergy) and Marja, and the majority of the Iraqi people, want the National Assembly to make Islam the source of legislation in the permanent constitution and to reject any law that is contrary to Islam," he said in his statement.

Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld spent the weekend on television shows and interviews assuring the U.S. public the Iraqi elections would not result in a theocracy for the country.

"We have a great deal of confidence in where they're headed," Mr. Cheney said on ''Fox News Sunday''. "I don't think, at this stage, that there's anything like justification for hand-wringing or concern on the part of Americans that somehow they're going to produce a result we won't like."

The violence of the insurgency, however, has returned after a brief lull following the elections whose final returns are expected in the coming week.

* 14 insurgents, 22 Iraqi police officers and soldiers were killed in an attack on a police station south of Baghdad.
* Four Egyptian telecom engineers were abducted.
* One U.S. soldier was killed and two injured by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.
* One U.S. marine was killed south of Baghdad on Saturday.
* In a rocket attack, 2 missiles exploded near the Baghdad Airport, while a third struck an Iraqi National Guard building; no casualties were reported.
* On Friday, an Italian jounalist was abducted near Baghdad University.