Source: Yahoo! News
Wire Service: AFP
On February 11, 2005 Agence France-Presse reported, "Iraq's leading religious Sunni authority called for the creation of an umbrella organisation of all Sunni groups and parties in a bid to unify the disempowered community's political position.
'We want to set up a general Sunni conference' comprised of representatives from parties, tribes, unions, associations and provincial officials, said Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Ghafur al-Samarrai during his sermon at Baghdad's Umm al-Qura mosque.
'This conference will not replace the various parties and associations but will be the link among all Sunnis,' explained Sheikh Ahmed, a senior member of the Committee of Muslim Scholars.
The clerical organisation represents some 3,000 mosques across the country and has taken the lead in the search for a common Sunni stance after elections, widely boycotted by Sunnis, which are expected to see the majority Shiites and the Kurds come to power."