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Iraq-Jordan
Govt assures Iraqis that it can protect voters on election day
2005-01-23
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government pledged to do everything in its power to protect voters from insurgent attacks during next week's national elections, as militants announced they'd killed 15 captive Iraqi national guardsmen for cooperating with the Americans.

Faced with the persistent violence - and expectations it will increase - Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib announced further security measures for the Jan. 30 balloting, in which Iraqis will choose a new 275-member National Assembly and 18 provincial councils. Al-Naqib said Baghdad's international airport would be closed for three days starting on the eve of the balloting.

The nighttime curfew in Baghdad and other cities will be extended and restrictions imposed on private vehicles to guard against car bombs, he said, adding that all leaves and passes for police and military forces have been canceled for the election period. "We have mobilized all our forces as a government," al-Naqib said.

Still, the minister did not play down the gravity of the security threat, nor the difficulties facing this country in organizing and conducting a nationwide election in the midst of a virulent insurgency. "There are dangers and there are threats to throw the elections process into chaos, but we hope that our security plan will be up to the standards. We don't rule out an escalation from the terrorist forces," he said.

Sunni Muslim rebels have vowed to disrupt the balloting, and Sunni clerics have urged postponement until the security situation improves. But leaders of the Shiites, estimated at 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people, have demanded an election, believing their majority status will bring them power long denied by Sunni Arabs.
Delay to please the Sunnis means no election ever. Funny how the Shi'a and Kurds know that, and the MSM doesn't.
U.S. and Iraqi officials believe most of the country is secure enough for elections except Baghdad and three mostly Sunni Arab provinces - Anbar, Ninevah and Salaheddin. Although Iraqis there will have the chance to vote, insurgent attacks and intimidation may produce a disappointing turnout. Al-Naqib said the situation was improving in Ninevah, which includes Mosul, after a series of U.S. and Iraqi military operations. He said 11 people "specializing in beheadings" had been arrested in Ninevah in recent days.

Security fears may have been responsible in part for discouraging even many of the estimated 1.2 million Iraqis living abroad from registering to vote. Niurka Pineiro, an official of the International Organization for Migration that is handling the vote in 14 countries, said some people were scared that when they go to polling places in those countries "some sort of mayhem may break out." The agency extended the deadline for registration by two days - until Tuesday - to allow more Iraqi exiles to register.
Posted by:Steve White

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