Al-Sistani-backed list of 228 candidates for Iraqi elections announced

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's mainstream Shiite groups Thursday announced a diverse list of 228 candidates for the Jan. 30 elections, a victory for Shiite leaders who wanted to present a powerful, united front as they seek a leading role in post-Saddam Iraq after years on the sidelines.

Yet Iraq's major Sunni factions, whose participation in the vote will be crucial to making it legitimate, were not included and have not put forward a list of candidates. Also absent was a radical Shiite cleric who could spoil the Shiite unity if he rejects the coalition's authority.

In violence in the run-up to the vote, seven Iraqis were killed in separate clashes in Baghdad and the volatile western city of Ramadi.

A car bomb also rocked a busy Mosul vegetable market, wounding two civilians, while a U.S. soldier was injured by roadside bomb in the capital. Another American soldier suffered minor injuries in a similar attack the day before in Samarra, the scene of clashes that culminated in the resignation of the town's police chief.

The list of 23 parties, dubbed the United Iraqi Alliance, may put new pressure on the Sunnis to join the race for the vote, especially now that it seems far more likely to proceed. Key Sunni leaders have demanded a boycott, but the interim Iraqi government and President Bush have said the election must go ahead.

Iraq's leading Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, had appointed a six-member panel to create the list. He has been working to unite Iraq's majority Shiites ahead of the vote to ensure victory, plus include representatives from Iraq's other diverse communities. Shiites comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population.

The 228 candidates include independent Sunni Muslims, a Shiite Kurdish group, members of the Yazidis minority religious sect, and a Turkomen movement, among others. Also among them are members of the Iraqi National Congress, led by former exile and one-time Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi.

"I think that this list is a patriotic list. We hope that Iraqi people will back this list," Sheik Fawaz al-Jarba, head of the powerful Sunni Shemar tribes in the northwestern city of Mosul, said at the end of the conference.

Yet there are divides. Separate candidate lists are being compiled by aides to President Ghazi al-Yawer and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi — drawing some Shiites away from the ticket that al-Sistani is overseeing, well-connected Shiite figures have said. The main Kurdish parties will contest the vote with their own unified list, Kurdish leaders have said.