BAGHDAD, Feb 3 (AFP) - The chief UN envoy met with the leader of Iraq's main Sunni Muslim political party on Thursday, amid mounting efforts to convince the wary minority community to participate in the next government.
Ashraf Qazi expressed the hope that parties which boycotted Sunday's polls, in particular Sunnis, would "participate in drawing up the constitution ... and our efforts will continue in this direction."
Many Sunni political groups ordered followers to boycott the historic elections, following which Iraq's Shiite majority are set to take power after decades of Sunni domination.
"It is the duty of the UN mission in Iraq to consult all main political leaders to examine the latest developments and the help that the UN can give in the next phase of the political transition," Qazi told reporters.
The leader of the Islamic Party, Mohsen Abdel Hamid, said their talks had revolved around "the next government, the constitution and how to bring about cooperation to sort out Iraq's affairs".
Iraqi and US officials have urged the country's various communities to unite after the polls, the first since Saddam Hussein was toppled in a US-led war in 2003 and the first democratic elections in Iraq in more than half a century.
Asked about talks with Sunni leaders initiated by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Abdel Hamid said: "We want to reach a shared point of view with all parties in order to guarantee the future of Iraq."
Allawi met with several Sunni leaders on Wednesday, including Abdel Hamid. Another meeting is set for Monday.
"Now that the political parties are starting consultations to form the next, elected government, all agreed on the importance of this being a fully inclusive process. All parts and all sectors of Iraqi society should be involved," Allawi's office said in a statement.
"For us, Iraq is more important than all the secondary conflicts even if Sunnis in general, and the (Islamic) party in particular, have withdrawn" from the elections, said Abdel Hamid.
The Islamic Party withdrew from the electoral race after its requests were turned down to delay the vote until an improvement in the security situation.
"We will not be in parliament and that doesn't really matter to us ... What is important are (talks) between all Iraqis with the aim of cooperating to resolve the country's problems," Abdel Hamid said.
Asked about his party's possible participation in the new government, he said that the issue had not been raised within his party and "we are not considering it".
Qazi later met interim Finance Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, a candidate for the premiership, his spokesman said.
"The meeting is part of consultations to explore ways that the UN can help" the political process, said Qazi's spokesman, Ayman al-Safadi.
On Wednesday, the main Sunni religious organisation, the Committee of Muslim Scholars, said the election had been illegitimate.
"A huge portion of the population boycotted and this tells us the national assembly and the coming government will not have the legitimacy required for writing the constitution, or concluding security and trade agreements," it said.
Qazi is due to meet the committee's leader, Hareth al-Dari, "very soon", said Safadi.
The spokesman said Qazi met several political leaders last week, including Allawi; the leader of the Shiite Dawa party, Ibrahim Jaafari; the leader of the Shiite Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, Abdel Aziz Hakim, and veteran Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi.
02/03/2005 14:44 GMT - AFP