Shahristani 'doesn't want top job'

news.com.au ^ | May 27, 2004 | From correspondents in the United Nations

[Howlin]

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said today that Iraqi nuclear scientist Hussain al-Shahristani doesn't want a top job in new interim government.

Al-Shahristani, a Shi'ite Muslim who was jailed under Saddam Hussein's regime, was identified as a leading contender for prime minister.

Brahimi, who is in Baghdad helping Iraqis agree on an interim government that will take over June 30, said he met al-Shahristani and thinks highly of him, his spokesman Ahmed Fawzi said in a statement.

Brahimi "has no doubt that Mr Shahristani could serve his country well in a number of positions in government", the statement said.

"Mr Shahristani, however, has himself clarified that he would prefer to serve his country in other ways," it said, without elaborating.

[Howlin]

Info ping.

[Argus]

Shahristani's exact words were "Are you crazy? I'd rather keep breathing."

[Dolphy]

Thanks, Howlin.

[adam_az]

"Mr Shahristani, however, has himself clarified that he would prefer to serve his country in other ways," it said, without elaborating.

My guess is that it involves ways that won't tend to make him blowed up real good.

[prairiebreeze]

Heh! Probably so.

[ken5050]

He just got a quote from his life insurance agent.....His premium for a one million dollar policy?..$999,999.99

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Top guys have a way of disappearing from this life/

[Not A Snowbird]

He probably wants to live to a ripe old age.

[Darlin']

LOL. IOW, Leroy don't want the ball.

[Pearls Before Swine]

"Are you crazy? I'd rather keep breathing."

Right you are. That job is a death sentence.

[Names Ash Housewares]

"Are you crazy? I'd rather keep breathing." "Right you are. That job is a death sentence."

One might have said the same thing for Karzai in Afghanistan. It will take great courage no doubt. But I believe that there are still men of great courage in the world.

http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1867010

May 3, 2004 -- Hamid Karzai has led Afghanistan through the transition from Taliban rule and two years of reconstruction. Now he's preparing Afghanistan for its first democratic election. "My job is to keep peace and move forward -- keep peace, and move forward," he tells NPR's Renee Montagne. "They want to be empowered, the Afghan people, the power to vote, the power to have a better life." This week, 46,000 voter-registration sites are opening up in villages and rural areas throughout the country. Polling is now set for September, delayed by concerns about security in a country awash in weapons, and beset by violence. Skeptics sometimes call Karzai the "Mayor of Kabul" because his government, bolstered by the firepower of the U.S. military and its allies, controls very little beyond the capital city. But recently Karzai has begun to emerge from his heavily guarded presidential palace to do some campaign-style public appearances. He's traveled as far as his home province of Kandahar to make a speech urging his countrymen to vote.

Hail to the King Baby.

Hail to the King Baby.

[McGavin999]

Whoever takes a position in the interim government CAN NOT run for office in the first elections. I would imagine this man would be perfectly suited to run for, and win, election by the people. He sounds like a good one.

[MeekOneGOP]

[quant5]

This makes the most sense of the other previous posts I read. From what I read about this man's background, it would not suprise me also if he takes a post within the government that involves national education benefits to Iraqis.

As far as death threats and assasination, I have little doubt after suffering 10 years of torture and his possible demise at any moment that he would really be scared to take on the Prime Minister post.

He is respected as an educator and it seems the love of his life. Politicians are a different category of personality.

[A. Pole]

Shahristani's exact words were "Are you crazy? I'd rather keep breathing."

Exactly. Like in the story of one ancient Chinese sage :)

The king of the State of Ch'u wanted to enlist Chuang Tzu's services. He dispatched two envoys with a letter that stated: "Hereby I appoint you my chancellor." The envoys delivered the message to Chuang Tzu as he stood knee-deep in Pu river, fishing with a bamboo pole.

Still holding his pole and looking speculatively at Pu river, Chuang Tzu said:

"I believe there is a sacred turtle, offered and canonized three thousand years ago, which is worshipped by the king. Wrapped in silk it lies in a precious shrine on an altar in the temple.
What do you think?
If you were a turtle, would you prefer to lose your life and leave your dead shell to be an object of worship shrouded in incense for three thousand years?
Or would you prefer to live as a plain turtle that drags its tail in the mud?"

The envoys replied:

"The turtle might prefer to stay alive and drag its tail in the mud!"

"Precisely", Chuang Tzu replied. "Go home. Leave me here to drag my tail in the mud."

(JOHN WIJNGAARDS, God Within Us, Fount Paperbacks, London 1988; Templegate, Springfield, Illinois 1990.)

BTW, looks like Mr. Shahristani is one of the few fit to be in government.

[mewzilla]

Sigh. Well, Rome wasn't built in a day.