BAGHDAD - Leading Sunni clerics declared on Wednesday that any government emerging from Iraq's historic election would lack legitimacy because many people had boycotted a poll they said was tainted by a U.S.-led occupation.

Iraqis defied militants' threats and flocked to the polls on Sunday in the Shi'ite south and Kurdish north, but many in the central Sunni Arab heartland -- where the 22-month-old anti-American insurgency is strongest -- stayed home.

Muhammed Bashar al-Faidhi (L), a Sunni cleric, discusses Iraq 's recent elections with reporters in Baghdad February 2, 2005. A leading group of Iraqi Sunni clerics said on Wednesday any government emerging from Iraq's landmark election would lack legitimacy because many people had boycotted a poll they said was tainted by a U.S.-led occupation. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

While the Bush administration insisted the election was conducted fairly and world leaders heaped praise on Iraqi voters, Iraq's Muslim Clerics' Association railed against the country's first multi-party ballot in half a century.

"These elections lack legitimacy because a large segment of different sects, parties and currents ... boycotted," the Sunni religious group said in a statement as the vote count proceeded.

"This means the coming national assembly and government that will emerge will not possess the legitimacy to enable them to draft the constitution or sign security or economic agreements."

A sense of alienation among minority Sunni Arabs, who formed the backbone of Saddam Hussein's ruling class, poses a major challenge to Iraq's new leadership, which is certain to be dominated by members of the long-oppressed Shi'ite majority.

Many Iraqis fear the election results, which are expected to be finalized early next week, could fuel the Sunni-led insurgency and foment sectarian strife. Al Qaeda's wing in Iraq has vowed to pursue "holy war."

"We warn the United Nations and the international community of the danger of granting these elections legitimacy because this will open a door of evil and they will be the first to bear responsibility," the clerics' group said.

In fresh violence on Wednesday, four Iraqis -- two soldiers and two civilians -- were killed in separate roadside bombings in Samarra, and saboteurs blew up part of an oil pipeline running from northern oil fields to a refinery near Baghdad.

A Shi'ite leader claiming victory in the elections said on Tuesday he wanted all groups, including Sunni Arabs, to help shape Iraq's future.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who tops the candidate list of the United Iraqi Alliance drawn up with the blessing of revered Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, said he was reaching out to all ethnic and religious groups.

SUNNI CLERICS STAND FIRM

But the Sunni clerics stood firm. They had urged an election boycott in protest at U.S.-led assaults on Sunni cities and said the poll could not be fair with foreign troops on Iraqi soil.

"All Iraqi people are waiting for the opportunity to hold comprehensive, free and just elections that have legitimacy ... after the withdrawal of the occupation," the Sunni group said.

Iraqis voted for a 275-member transitional national assembly that will appoint a government and draft a constitution to be approved by referendum in October.

Despite its rejection of the polls, the clerics said they would respect the decision of Iraqis who voted but would regard the new government as having only limited powers.

The group met a senior U.S. embassy official before the elections and offered to drop its boycott if Washington set a timetable for troop withdrawal. The official refused.

Interim leaders say it is too early to ask foreign troops to leave until the country's security forces are built up.

Emboldened by their role in thwarting attacks on election day, the chief of police in Iraq's main northern Sunni city of Mosul has given insurgents two weeks to hand over all arms.

"Hand over your weapons or we will come and get you," Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed al-Jabouri said on a TV station to guerrillas in and around Iraq's third largest city.

It marked a turnaround in Mosul. Two months ago, virtually the entire police force deserted after rebels overran police stations. The police chief was sacked and Jabouri was appointed.

Across the country, police and soldiers backed by U.S.-led forces were credited with preventing a bloodbath at the polls.

But no one is claiming the insurgency is over, or even seriously weakened. Guerrillas still managed to kill 35 people on Sunday.

Additional reporting by Luke Baker and Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Baghdad and Maher al-Thanoon in Mosul. Writing by Matt Spetalnick, editing by Tim Pearce

© 2005 Reuters Ltd

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