BAGHDAD, Feb 18 (AFP) - The turbaned cleric who led Shiites to victory in Iraq's elections sharply criticised Friday the re-integration of former regime elements, in an early sign of the challenges facing national reconciliation.
"Three days ago, some criminals of the previous regime who were brought back to the police apparatus, committed an ignominious crime against three members of the Badr organization," Sayyed Abdelaziz Hakim said, haranguing a sea of black-clad supporters.
"The three men were detained and then tortured to death without being proven guilty, and here are their pure bodies in front you," he said.
Hakim heads the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq and was addressing Shiites who had marched through Baghdad to gather for Tasua, the first of two days of mourning for the death of Imam Hussein that culminates with Ashura on Saturday.
The Badr organisation is an offshoot of the Badr Brigades, the officially disbanded militia of SCIRI.
Hakim called on the Iraqi judiciary to bring the culprits to justice and warned that "remaining silent against such a crime means the return of the oppression era."
The victory of the long-downtrodden majority community will lead to the first Shiite government in an Arab state in more than 1,000 years, a development that has caused concern among Iraq's Sunni-run Arab neighbours.
Many observers have feared that the empowerment of the religious Shiite party could entail a backlash for the Sunni Arab minority that ruled the country for eight decades.
"We reject that security, and Iraqis' lives and dignity, be in the hands of the criminal elements that used to practise killing and oppression during the rule of the ousted regime," Hakim said.
The winning list received the backing of Iranian cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and includes many of the main proponents of the de-Baathification policy launched after Saddam Hussein was toppled in April 2003.
Shiite leaders used conciliatory rhetoric during the election campaign and since results were announced, but many fear they will refuse to bring back into the security forces and administration Sunnis purged after the invasion.
The Sunni minority of the former ruling elite that will be very poorly represented in parliament. Making some concessions to them is seen by many observers as key to avoiding escalating sectarian divisions and growing grassroots support for the insurgency.
Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, whose list was a distant third in the elections and won only 40 seats in parliament, has been one of the most vocal in warning against further alienating former regime members.
Allawi, himself a former Baathist, has advocated re-incorporating into the administration and security apparatus some former regime officials innocent of major crimes.
There is no agreement yet on who would be the winning Shiite list's candidate for the premiership. Early indications pointed to interim Vice President Ibrahim Jaafari, but maverick politician Ahmed Chalabi insisted he was still in the race.
Chalabi, a onetime Pentagon favourite, was in charge of the de-Baathification programme before it tapered off under the interim administration.
02/18/2005 13:55 GMT - AFP