THE CONFLICT IN IRAQ; NEWS ANALYSIS; Election Putting Neighboring Nations on Edge; Countries in the region are vexed by Sunday's vote: They fear Shiite rule, sectarian violence, instability and a surge in demands for democracy HOME EDITION

[Jordan]'s King Abdullah II provoked a small scandal recently when he warned that the elections might create a "crescent" of Shiite power -- a contiguous Shiite-controlled territory through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. (Syria's President Bashar Assad is an Alawite, a Shiite sub...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Los Angeles times
Main Author Megan K. Stack and Tyler Marshall
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, Calif Los Angeles Times Communications LLC 27.01.2005
Subjects
Elections
International relations
Iraq
Middle East
Arab countries
Iraq
DAMASCUS, Syria
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Summary:[Jordan]'s King Abdullah II provoked a small scandal recently when he warned that the elections might create a "crescent" of Shiite power -- a contiguous Shiite-controlled territory through Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. (Syria's President Bashar Assad is an Alawite, a Shiite sub-sect. And Shiites are the largest of Lebanon's sects.) "We would never help to destabilize Iraq. Stability in Iraq is important to Syria and to the region," Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah said. "We want to preserve the unity of Iraq and for Iraq to reach complete sovereignty." CROSSROADS: Iraqi exiles in Tehran register to vote in the Iraqi national elections. Iran has been accused of trying to fuel the Iraqi insurgency and promote Shiite groups, and Sunni nations in the region fear a Tehran-style Shiite theocracy in Baghdad.; PHOTOGRAPHER: Morteza Nikoubazl Reuters
ISSN:0458-3035