Gulf Shiites want non-sectarian rule in Iraq
Agence France-Presse
Kuwait City, January 26, 2005
Shiite Muslims in Gulf Arab states may be heartened by growing Shiite power in Iraq, but they say a democratic, non-sectarian government in Baghdad will better promote their rights in the Sunni-ruled region.
Majority Shiites seem assured of winning next Sunday's landmark general elections in Iraq and of ascending to the seat of power in Baghdad for the first time in decades, amid boycott threats by the minority Sunnis.
Sheikh Ali Salman, who heads Bahrain's Islamic National Accord Association — the main political formation of the majority Shiites in the Sunni-governed archipelago — said he hoped the upcoming polls will produce a democratic government "representing 25 million Iraqis," not just the Shiites.
"It is not in the interest of Shiites to form a sectarian-based government in Iraq... As a Shiite cleric, I do not support the notion that there should be a Shiite government in Iraq because Shiites are the majority there," he said.
"We look to the Iraqi polls as a democratic process to elect a legitimate government. It will not be a (sectarian) Shiite, but a national Iraqi government in which Sunnis and Kurds will take part," said prominent Kuwaiti Shiite cleric Sayed Mohammad Baqer al-Muhri.
"Undoubtedly, a national Iraqi state will impact on neighbouring countries... but there is no cause to be afraid of Shiites rising to power," Muhri, head of the Shiite Clerics Congregation, added.
Shiites make up 12 per cent of the nearly 24-million native population living in the six member states of the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Council, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
In Bahrain, Shiites comprise 60 per cent of the local population, while in Kuwait, they constitute one-third of the indigenous population of 950,000.
There are close to two million Shiites in Saudi Arabia's native population of 17 million.
They are concentrated mainly in the oil-rich Eastern Province, close to Kuwait, Bahrain and predominantly Shiite southern Iraq.
Living in conservative, Sunni-ruled states, Shiites have often complained of discrimination, such as political inequality and lack of job opportunities.
The US-led overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni regime in Iraq in April 2003 emboldened Gulf Shiites to become more vocal in demanding their political and social rights.
"Shiites are an integral part of Gulf societies. They are not looking for outside help, whether from (Shiite-dominated) Iran or others, to promote their rights," Kuwaiti Shiite politician and businessman Ali al-Matruk told the agency.
"In demanding our rights, we operate within the Kuwaiti constitution which does not discriminate between citizens," Matruk said.
Kuwaiti Shiites, who have five MPs in the 50-seat parliament and whose one minister resigned in early January in a dispute with Sunni Islamist lawmakers, recently started to lobby for better political representation.
Several Shiite political groups earlier this month merged to form the "National Coalition of Congregations," an alliance which will strive to promote national unity and oppose sectarianism, according to Muhri.
"In Kuwait, we live in prosperity and peace, but we call for increasing the number of Shiites in political bodies, including ministers... However, this should be based on competence, not sectarianism," Muhri said.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.