Some countries trying to throw spanner into election – Sistani aide

KARBALA / IraqiNews.com: A representative of top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani accused “some countries” of trying to render a failure the forthcoming elections, calling on citizens to show good voting turnout. “We are about to have legislative elections early next year and this requires ungrudging efforts in order to make the voting process a success,” Ahmed al-Safi said during a Friday sermon in the holy Shiite city of Karbala. “There are some countries that work on creating a state of distrust between the citizens and the Iraqi government so as to have a feeble turnout and consequently render the election a failure,” he said. Safi noted that these countries, which he did not name, have certain agendas and spend huge sums of money for the objective of putting certain figures in power. “The coming elections are going to be decisive in the drawing of a new political map in Iraq,” he added. AmR (P) 1