Iraq’s top Shi’ite religious leader hinted in an interview published on Friday that he would allow a delay to elections in line with a U.N. verdict that ruled out polls before the end of U.S.-led occupation in June. But Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, widely seen as holding the key to Iraq’s political future, said any delay should be brief and any interim government should have limited authority. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has sided with the United States, saying elections in Iraq before the political transfer of power on June 30 were not feasible. He also said the date for restoring sovereignty that Washington wants “must be respected.” Sistani told Germany’s Der Spiegel that an interim government should be charged only with running the day-to-day affairs of the state in the run-up to quick elections. Full Story
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