Iraq's Sunnis seen divided in coming election
* Sunnis joining cross-sectarian alliances
* Inclusion seen as important to future stability
* Some Arab states lobby for united Sunni bloc
By Waleed Ibrahim
BAGHDAD, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunnis have failed to form a united bloc to contest the coming election and instead have joined cross-sectarian alliances that may have stark implications for the Sunni Islamist insurgency, analysts say.
A Sunni boycott of the last national poll in 2005 and the rise to dominance of Iraq's Shi'ite majority boosted resentment at their loss of power following the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and helped fuel the still-active insurgency.
If Sunnis, who are believed to make up roughly 20 percent of the population, end up being better represented after the January parliamentary ballot, that resentment may wane. If they end up being sidelined, frustration may grow.
Ditching the sect-based politics that dominated Iraq after the 2003 invasion seems the best stance that Iraqis of all stripes, not just Sunnis, can adopt after 6-1/2 years of sectarian war and as U.S. forces prepare to withdraw by 2012. Continued...
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