US sticks to Iraq elections timetable
4/1/2005 11:18
The United States said on 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 January
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.
Some political parties have asked to delay the elections for up to six months as
the present security situation would not allow the holding of free and fair
elections.
Xinhua News
|
