Here’s an interesting twist in the Iraqi election mess:
As the clock ticked down to polling day on January 30, sectarian tensions entered the campaign, as the premier’s Iraqi National Accord party cried foul over the alleged use of religion by Shiite politicians.
The INA lodged a formal complaint against the joint Shiite list, the Unified Iraqi Alliance (UIA), for violating state law by allegedly using religion in its advertising. It also accused Shiite militias of intimidating voters ahead of the poll.
It’s just a bit in the middle of a long AFP article, but I’ve not seen anything about this before.
INA is Allawi’s party and the UIA is Sistani’s party which includes Chalabi.