Experts: Iraq Shia Could Be Moderating Force

NPR | By Mike Shuster

Published January 11, 2005 at 10:00 PM MST

Making-up 60 percent of Iraq's population, Shiite Muslims look to be big winners in the Jan. 30 elections. Some worry the Shia community is too close to Iran and could push the country toward a more theocratic model. But some experts believe the Shia may be democracy's best hope in a new Iraq. Hear NPR's Mike Shuster.

Mike Shuster

Mike Shuster is an award-winning diplomatic correspondent and roving foreign correspondent for NPR News. He is based at NPR West, in Culver City, CA. When not traveling outside the U.S., Shuster covers issues of nuclear non-proliferation and weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and the Pacific Rim.

See stories by Mike Shuster

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