Iraqi PM to parade progress on trip

Iraq's mostly Sunni Arab neighbors have been wary of the Shiite-dominated government's ties to Iran. No Arab government currently has an ambassador in Baghdad, although several have promised to send one soon.

Iran, by contrast, maintains an ambassador in Baghdad, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Iraq last March.

The U.S. hopes efforts to improve stability will receive a boost when Iraqi voters choose governing councils in the 18 provinces. The Americans hope the elections, expected this fall, will increase Sunni participation in the political process and also bolster popular support for local administrations in Shiite areas.

Many Sunnis boycotted the last provincial elections in January 2005, as did most followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Shiite religious parties won the major share of power in the balloting--a development which widened sectarian tensions.

On Thursday, the government banned political parties from using pictures of religious figures and non-candidates on posters and campaign material--a move clearly directed not only at al-Sadr's followers but also their principal Shiite rival, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

The council rode to power in 2005 thanks to the endorsement of the country's most prominent Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, whose picture was plastered in Shiite areas across the country.

Nevertheless, the Sadrists welcomed the government's announcement, presumably because it would prevent their main rivals from displaying pictures of al-Sistani.

"We have been demanding the banning of such practices that would influence the voter's choice," said a senior al-Sadr official in the southern Shiite holy city of Najaf, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

But a leading figure in the Supreme Council, Latif al-Amidi, opposed the move, saying "senior clerics and religious figures are our guidance in life and they are a source of power to us."

He also criticized a government decision to ban campaigning in mosques and other places of worship.