Sunni clerics to boycott Iraq vote

[ECH1969]

BAGHDAD: The Committee of Muslim Scholars, Iraq’s main Sunni religious authority, announced yesterday it has decided not to participate in this month’s general election but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

“A lot of people ask about the committee’s position on the elections. The committee announces that it will not participate in any political process under the shadow of the occupation,” said spokesman Sheikh Abdel Salam al-Qubeissi.

“The committee is not dreaming of power and does not want to give the occupiers the right to remain in Iraq,” he told a news conference.

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