Shi’ites fume over Bremer veto threat as violence continues in Iraq

BAGHDAD – Religious Shi’ites warned Iraq’s top administrator Paul Bremer yesterday against the risk of a crisis should he carry out his threat to veto an Islamic constitution for the country, as violence continued.

Iraq’s deputy interior minister Ahmed Ibrahim confirmed yesterday that five men were arrested over the weekend in connection with the murder last year of Governing Council member Akila al-Hashemi. And Iraq’s trade minister said one of his top civil servants was shot dead outside his home last Wednesday in an apparent political assassination.Hussein Abdul Fattah, the trade ministry’s deputy director general for administration, was shot dead in his car as it pulled out on the street, Ali Allawi told AFP.A US soldier was reported killed and another wounded when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed on a road in northern Iraq late on Monday afternoon, the third such incident in less than eight hours.”A Task Force Olympia soldier was killed and one other was wounded when their convoy was attacked by an improvised explosive device” near Tall Afar, west of the city of Mosul, the US military said yesterday.Earlier on Monday two US soldiers were killed and five others wounded in separate roadside bomb blasts within an hour of each other in Baghdad and the north-eastern city of Baquba.According to Pentagon figures, attacks by insurgents have claimed the lives of 261 US soldiers since US President George W. Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1.Shi’ite clerics reacted angrily to Bremer’s threat to use his veto if the US-appointed Governing Council proposes a basic law that challenges the spirit of Western-style democracy.The Governing Council has been charged with writing the temporary constitution or fundamental law that will govern Iraq until national elections are held.But many observers believe that some council members are pushing to implement Islamist rule in the post-occupation era.Bremer vowed the new law would protect civil liberties in line with the agreement he reached with the Governing Council last November that set June 30 as the final day of the US-led occupation.”Our position is clear, and the text that is in there now is as I say.It can’t become law until I sign it,” Bremer said.On Tuesday, the Najaf head of the main Shi’ite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) warned against US intervention in the drafting of the country’s legal code.”I think that if one seeks to impose another solution than what the Iraqi population wants, it would spark a crisis and none of the parties want this to happen,” Sheikh Sadreddin al-Kubbanji said.Iraq’s deputy interior minister Ahmed Ibrahim told reporters that police were holding five men, former members of Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen militia, implicated in Hashimi’s death and other plots against Governing Council members.Hashemi, a foreign ministry official appointed in July 2003 to the Governing Council, was hit by three bullets as she left her Baghdad home on September 20, and she died five days later from her wounds.- Nampa-AFPAnd Iraq’s trade minister said one of his top civil servants was shot dead outside his home last Wednesday in an apparent political assassination. Hussein Abdul Fattah, the trade ministry’s deputy director general for administration, was shot dead in his car as it pulled out on the street, Ali Allawi told AFP. A US soldier was reported killed and another wounded when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed on a road in northern Iraq late on Monday afternoon, the third such incident in less than eight hours. “A Task Force Olympia soldier was killed and one other was wounded when their convoy was attacked by an improvised explosive device” near Tall Afar, west of the city of Mosul, the US military said yesterday. Earlier on Monday two US soldiers were killed and five others wounded in separate roadside bomb blasts within an hour of each other in Baghdad and the north-eastern city of Baquba. According to Pentagon figures, attacks by insurgents have claimed the lives of 261 US soldiers since US President George W. Bush declared major combat in Iraq over on May 1. Shi’ite clerics reacted angrily to Bremer’s threat to use his veto if the US-appointed Governing Council proposes a basic law that challenges the spirit of Western-style democracy. The Governing Council has been charged with writing the temporary constitution or fundamental law that will govern Iraq until national elections are held. But many observers believe that some council members are pushing to implement Islamist rule in the post-occupation era. Bremer vowed the new law would protect civil liberties in line with the agreement he reached with the Governing Council last November that set June 30 as the final day of the US-led occupation. “Our position is clear, and the text that is in there now is as I say. It can’t become law until I sign it,” Bremer said. On Tuesday, the Najaf head of the main Shi’ite party, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) warned against US intervention in the drafting of the country’s legal code. “I think that if one seeks to impose another solution than what the Iraqi population wants, it would spark a crisis and none of the parties want this to happen,” Sheikh Sadreddin al-Kubbanji said. Iraq’s deputy interior minister Ahmed Ibrahim told reporters that police were holding five men, former members of Saddam Hussein’s Fedayeen militia, implicated in Hashimi’s death and other plots against Governing Council members. Hashemi, a foreign ministry official appointed in July 2003 to the Governing Council, was hit by three bullets as she left her Baghdad home on September 20, and she died five days later from her wounds. – Nampa-AFP