| Top shiite cleric demands free elections in iraq { March 24 2004 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/24/nation/7609098&sec=nationTop Shiite Muslim cleric demands free elections in Iraq
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/3/24/nation/7609098&sec=nation
Wednesday March 24, 2004 Still no law and order in Iraq, says Chandra
PETALING JAYA: A year after the United States-led invasion of Iraq, there is still no law and order in that country, said International Movement for a Just World (JUST) president Dr Chandra Muzaffar.
He said neither the American pro-council, the American-appointed Governing council nor the American inspired constitution were capable of restoring law and order.
"The daily death toll and incessant bombings illustrate that Iraq is in a bloody mess. Only a speedy end to the occupation will bring about peace and stability," he said, supporting demands by top Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, to end the US occupation and hold free elections in Iraq as soon as possible.
Chandra said Sistani, who had also demanded that the United Nations be given a primary role in managing the transition to an independent and sovereign Iraq nation that is led by Iraqis themselves, had shown the effectiveness of peaceful resistance to occupation.
"We hope that peaceful forms of resistance will gain greater acceptance," Chandra said in a statement here yesterday.
He said the invasion saw the killings of at least 10,000 Iraqi civilians, 30,000 Iraqi soldiers and scores of American and British soldiers.
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