Tuesday, February 22, 2005

One Nation: It looks like Iraq may get a secular government after all. The leading Shiite group is throwing their weight behind Ibrahim Jafari, who leads the Dawa Party, which opposed Saddam Hussein and was brutalized by that regime, so much that members had to seek refuge in Iran.

His party has long advocated a religious government. But in a recent interview with The Washington Post, he said Dawa had tempered that desire to accommodate secular and non-Muslim Iraqis. Jafari said Dawa did not "aim to establish an Islamic state to apply the Islamic sharia," or law. Instead, it would establish a government "respecting human rights and applying justice and respecting the rights of women."

Jafari also said that his new government would include all ethnic parties, including Sunnis who boycotted the election.

"Every country has its own character," he said. "Not all Iraqis are Muslims. Not all Muslims are Shia. Not all Shia are Islamic. We have to have a system that is open to all components of society."

I like him already.