BAGHDAD, 27 November 2004 — Iraq’s election commission said yesterday it would consider delaying the January vote after leading Iraqi political parties, including the two main Kurdish groups closely allied to the United States, called for elections to be delayed because of the widening violence.
In Baghdad, four Nepalese nationals who once served with Britain’s elite Gurkha regiment were killed in a rocket attack on the highly fortified Green Zone claimed by an Al-Qaeda linked group while US-led forces pushed on with an offensive against lawless towns.
Just five days after Iraq announced the first post-Saddam elections would be held on Jan. 30, leading political parties called yesterday for a six-month delay because of the perilous security situation.
“Unrest and terrorist acts as well as insufficient preparations at the administrative, technical and political levels require the date to be reconsidered,” said a petition signed by 10 parties including Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqi National Accord and the two main Kurdish parties.
Election commission chairman Abdel Hussein Al-Hindawi said: “We will examine this request tomorrow (Saturday) morning. It’s a very complicated question.”
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari had insisted on Tuesday at a conference in Egypt aimed at uniting the international community behind Iraq’s transition toward democracy that the elections would be held “whatever the situation”.
And US President George W. Bush said yesterday he hoped that elections would take place as planned in January.
However, the call throws the election process into confusion as it is unclear exactly who has the power to decide on a postponement and Iraq’s temporary constitution clearly states that elections should be held by the end of January.
The government was already faced with a threatened boycott of the election by parties representing Sunnis, whose influence has waned since the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime after the US-led invasion of March 2003.
Meanwhile, US-led forces seized control of the lawless town of Latifiyah south of Baghdad in the latest effort to restore order in mainly Sunni areas wracked by deadly violence in recent months.
US troops had entered Latifiyah and reclaimed control of the roads, posting snipers on roofs as their offensive was met by little or no resistance.
Latifiyah is a Sunni majority town which commands access from the capital to key cities in the south, and is considered a rear base for extremist insurgents based in the Fallujah area.
“We’re starting to suffocate them, and they’re not liking it. We have a large target list, and we’re going to continue to stay after them,” a Marine spokesman said.
— Additional input from agencies
