US admits Iraqi elections will be flawed
13/1/2005 11:34
A senior US official said here on Wednesday that the Iraqi elections
scheduled for Jan 30 are " not going to be perfect."
"We all recognize that
the election is not going to be perfect, " said White House spokesman Scott
McClellan when he was asked if he agreed with Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
that violence will make voting impossible in some areas of the war-torn
country.
However, McClellan said, "This is the first time Iraqis will be able
to freely choose their leaders."
"We're going to do everything we can to help
the Iraqi people and the interim government ensure as broad a participation as
possible in this upcoming election," said McClellan.
US President George W.
Bush and Allawi spoke by telephone on Tuesday about preparations for the Iraqi
elections. "Both leaders are committed to making sure we have the best possible
election with the widest possible participation," McClellan said.
Also on
Tuesday, Allawi acknowledged for the first time in a televised address that
"pockets" of Iraq would be too dangerous for voters to cast ballots in the
election this month as insurgents continue their effort to disrupt the
campaign.
More than 100 Iraqi police officers and soldiers were reportedly
killed in violent attacks by insurgents this month.
For now, the Sunni Muslim
populated areas of Al-Anbar, Nineveh, Salahuddin and Diyala provinces are the
worst affected by the increasing violence.
Sunni Arabs make up about 20
percent of Iraqi's population, and are concentrated in the areas north and west
of Baghdad and in the northern city of Mosul.
Xinhua
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