Sunni Clerics say poll has no mandate

[capt_buzzard]

As the tight security surrounding Sunday's Iraqi elections began to wind down yesterday, leading Sunni clerics condemned the poll as illegitimate and said that the new Iraqi National Assembly would lack any mandate to draw up a new consitution for the country.

In its first statement since the vote, the Association of Muslim Clerics said that the election had little credibility ''because a large portion of those people who represent many spectra have boycotted it''. The Association had previously urged Sunnis not to go to the polls, but the picture that has emerged of voter turnout suggest a surprising late dash to the polls in many Sunni areas.

In many Sunni towns, the vote appears to have been marked as much by confusion as intimidation. Community leaders say a surge of interest brought larger-than-expected numbers but that many were kept from voting by a lack of polling stations and security.



www.independent.co.uk