BAGHDAD, Jan. 5 -- Iraq's minority Sunni Muslims, who enjoyed a favored place under former president Saddam Hussein and now complain of discrimination, have formed a national council to press their interests with U.S. occupation forces and counter the threat of domination by rival Shiite Muslims.

Founders of the shura, or consultative, council said its establishment a week ago is unprecedented in the history of Iraq's Sunnis, reflecting their dramatic reversal of fortune following Hussein's ouster. By forming a body representing a cross-section of Sunnis, they said, they hope to offer the U.S. government a central interlocutor for discussing their future and that of Iraq...

Over the centuries, Shiites have traditionally looked to their top clerics for leadership, creating a widely recognized authority apart from the state. But many Sunnis saw Hussein's ruling Baath Party, which filled its upper ranks with Sunnis, as their primary political organization. That fit with the traditional Sunni view that even an unjust leader, as long as he is Muslim, deserves obedience because the alternative could be anarchy, according to Harith Dhari, a Sunni cleric.

"A political vacuum in the eyes of Sunnis is more despicable than an unjust ruler. The state we are in right now confirms the truth of that," said Dhari, who played a central role in establishing the shura council. "Before, we had a government that gave us law and order. After the American occupation, each group in Iraq is pursuing its own interest and trying to secure its own welfare."