BAGHDAD, Jan 7: Regardless of the outcome of Jan 30 elections, Iraq's Shia frontrunner Abdel Aziz Hakim said on Friday that the Sunnis would be guaranteed posts in the next government.

"Whether the Sunnis have many or few seats in the next parliament, we need the real participation of all," said Mr Hakim, whose Shia-dominated coalition is expected to cruise to election victory.

"All must participate in the governmental authority and we will insist that they (Sunnis) be represented in the government, that they have posts and they should also have a voice in drafting the constitution and responsibilities in the government. This is what we are seeking to achieve."

The comments were the most explicit to date by the Shia leader concerning the Sunnis, who are largely expected to skip the vote due to political disenchantment and fear of guerrilla attacks.

Earlier in the week, Mr Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and his coalition urged Sunnis to cast their ballots, but stopped short of any explicit promise of a role in government.

Mr Hakim - who was targeted in a car bombing lat last month - tops the Unified Iraqi Alliance, a 228-strong candidate list of Shia parties running in the polls. He is poised to lead the 15-million-strong Shia community in the next Iraqi government.

Abdel Aziz Hakim, sitting in his home in the former mansion of Saddam Hussein's deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz, was adamant that even if Sunnis boycotted the polls, the Shias would seek to incorporate them into the next government.

"If such things happen, we must take into consideration all of their interests. The permanent constitution should be accepted by all components, by all the people of Iraq, except for the terrorists," said the grey-bearded Hakim, who is viewed suspiciously by many Sunnis because of his long-standing ties with Iran.

The next government is due to draft Iraq's permanent constitution, which will guide the country in the post-Saddam Hussein era, and will come before a national referendum in October.

American and Iraqi officials are worried that if Sunnis fail to turn out at the polls it will drive a wedge between the community and the new political order, strengthening the resistance and fuelling violence for years to come. Concerning the resistance, Mr Hakim revived his party's old policy of incorporating militias in the country's security apparatus. -AFP