BAGHDAD, 3 February 2005 — Iraq’s leading Sunni clerics said yesterday the country’s landmark elections lacked legitimacy because large numbers of Sunnis did not participate in the balloting, which the religious leaders had asked them to boycott.

Emboldened by the elections, which US and Iraqi authorities cited as a victory for democracy, the police chief in Mosul demanded the insurgents hand over weapons within two weeks or he would “wipe out” anyone giving them shelter.

The level of insurgent violence has appeared to drop sharply after the election — similar to a short-duration decline in attacks which occurred after the transfer of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government in June.

“The coming days and weeks will show whether this retreat will continue or whether it is tactical because of the strike against them,” interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told Al-Iraqiya television.

“I don’t know if what happened is a decrease (in attacks) that will continue or will escalate, but the final outcome is that it is a failure. They will continue for months but this (insurgency) will end. These dark forces will not be able to succeed.” With the threat of election violence past, the US Army handed over control yesterday of several combat outposts to Iraqi security forces on the west side of Mosul, Iraq’s third-largest city.

Allawi, meanwhile, hosted a meeting of leaders from 16 of the country’s prominent political factions yesterday, his office said. The leaders, who included President Ghazi Al-Yawar, Sunni elder politician Adnan Pachachi and Finance Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite, agreed to pursue the participation of all political, ethnic and religious groups in the new government, the statement said.

Large numbers of majority Shiites and Kurds participated in Sunday’s election for a new National Assembly and regional parliaments. Although no results or turnout figures have been released, US officials say participation appeared much lower in Sunni areas where the insurgency is strongest. The low turnout has been blamed variously on the clerics’ own boycott call and on fears of insurgent reprisals against those who voted.

In its first statement since the balloting, the Association of Muslim Scholars said the vote lacked legitimacy because of low Sunni participation. The association months ago urged Sunnis to shun the polls because of the presence of US and other foreign troops, and insurgents threatened to kill anyone who voted.

Iraqi officials have acknowledged voting problems, including a ballot shortage in Baghdad, Basra and Mosul, which have substantial Sunni populations and which also may have contributed to a low Sunni turnout.

With many Sunnis having stayed away, a ticket endorsed by the Shiite clergy is expected to gain the biggest number of seats in the 275-member National Assembly, followed by the Kurds and a list headed by Allawi, a secular Shiite. Shiites comprise an estimated 60 percent of Iraq’s 26 million people, and Shiite candidates were expected to fare best regardless of Sunni turnout. However, low Sunni participation was believed to have reduced the totals of other tickets. Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, the Shiite who heads the ticket expected to have won the largest number of parliamentary seats, indicated in an interview yesterday that his group wants the post of prime minister in the new government.

Meanwhile, four civilians were killed yesterday in a drive-by shooting in Iskandariyah south of Baghdad, police said. The motive was unclear.

An Iraqi motorist was shot to death on the main desert highway west of Baghdad yesterday. A witness claimed US troops opened fire when the vehicle tried to overtake an American military convoy.

— Additional input from agencies