BAGHDAD - Veteran Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi declared his candidacy for Iraq's vice presidency Saturday amid intense competition for government posts among the Sunnis.
"I'm announcing formally my candidacy for the post of vice president because I feel that I have a lot of support from a wide spectrum of Sunni groups," Pachachi told reporters in Baghdad.
The octogenarian politician also took a swipe at his rivals Sharif Ali, the heir to Iraq's monarchy toppled in 1958, and tribal magnate and outgoing Iraqi president Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar who have already announced their candidacies.
"I personally would have preferred to wait for the (National) Front to nominate me, but there have been other announcements," he said.
He was referring to a loose umbrella grouping of Sunni parties and religious figures that is supposed to represent the community's interests in the new parliament where the Sunnis have only 16 seats after largely boycotting the election two months ago.
"I wanted to quash rumours that I had no desire for this post," Pachachi said.
Pachachi also said that the National Front, which groups at least 32 groups, stood by its choice of controversial Sunni MP Mishaan al-Juburi for parliament speaker.
"The Front formally nominated Juburi and it sticks by that nomination."
However, he added efforts were underway to convince either Yawar or his Iraqiyun member Hajem al-Hassani to reconsider and take the post of speaker.
Although he considers himself a Sunni, Pachachi told reporters as a formality he converted to the Shiite faith years ago for the sole reason of protecting his daughters' inheritance. It is a common practice among Sunni Arab families with no sons.
In the Shiite faith, daughters can receive a full inheritance, while under Sunni Islam, the woman must split in half her family inheritance with her closest male relative no matter what.
04/02/2005 11:37 GMT