Iraqi elections hang in doubt amid continuing violence
4/1/2005 15:42
Despite mounting violence in Iraq, the interim Iraqi government and
Washington insisted that the elections be held as scheduled, while some
political parties favored delayed elections and Iraqi Defense Minister Hazim
Shaalan admitted a postponement of the vote was possible.
Some of Iraqi
political parties asked to postpone the vote for up to six months as the present
security situation would not allow the holding of free and fair elections. But
the opposition argued that there was no guarantee for the improvement of the
security conditions even if the elections were delayed.
Fareed Ayar, the
official spokesman for the Higher Commission of Elections in Iraq, said "who
would guarantee that the security conditions would improve after six months, for
example, and that there is not a law that would allow the postponement of the
elections".
Three extremist Islamic groups already threatened in a statement
published on their website that everyone taking part in the elections would be
"putting his life in danger".
Interim Iraqi Minister of Defense Hazim
Shaalan, in Cairo for medical treatment, admitted Monday that putting off the
Iraqi elections was possible so that all Iraqis could vote.
Iraq has asked
Egypt to help convince the Sunni sect in Iraq to take part in the Jan. 30
elections. The largest Sunni Muslim political group in Iraq announced last week
that it would not participate in the elections, citing relentless violence and
inadequate time for preparation.
However, other Iraqi officials and the
United States have vowed to hold the elections as scheduled, although violence
persists between US-Iraqi forces and insurgents.
The United States said
Monday that it sticks to the timetable scheduled for Iraq's nationwide elections
on Jan. 30 despite calls for a delay.
"It is our understanding that the
independent electoral commission and the Iraqi interim government remain of the
view that elections need to be held on Jan. 30, and we are certainly proceeding
on that assumption," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said at a news
briefing.
"It is a decision that the Iraqis are going to make. And to this
point they have said that they want to have them on Jan. 30, and that is
something that we are supporting," Ereli said.
US President George W. Bush
has vowed to hold Iraq's elections as scheduled.
However, with the increase
of violence in Iraq, doubt has risen about the possibility of holding the first
post-Saddam elections on Jan. 30.
The suicide bombing attack Monday on the
headquarters of the National Accord Movement, headed by interim Prime Minister
Ayad Allawy, took place only one hour before a press conference to announce the
candidates of the movement for the elections.
Six members of Iraq's National
Guard were killed and four others wounded Monday in two roadside bomb attacks in
Tikrit, hometown of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
Abdul Aziz Al
Hakim, head of the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, the leading
Shiite Muslim party and a major contender in the Iraqi elections, escaped an
assassination attempt last week.
Insurgents mounted daily attacks on Iraqi
police and National Guards who will have to protect polling stations during
Iraq's elections.
The Al Qaeda allied group led by Jordanian extremist Abu
Mussab Al Zarqawi recently released a video showing the killing of five members
of the National Guard by armed men.
The repeated suicide bomb attacks bring
into question the ability of the interim Iraqi government to protect the voters
on Jan. 30 since it is expected that widespread attacks could culminate to
disrupt the elections, observers said.
Xinhua News
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