BAGHDAD, 16 December 2004 — Campaigning in Iraq’s first national elections since Saddam Hussein’s ouster began yesterday under the shadow of a rampant insurgency, with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi announcing his candidacy.
Also yesterday, a government official said that Saddam’s notorious right-hand man, Ali Hassan Al-Majid, known as “Chemical Ali,” would be the first to appear in court next week to face charges for crimes allegedly committed during Saddam’s 35-year dictatorship. Allawi said earlier that formal indictments could be issued against some of Saddam’s top deputies next month — just ahead of the Jan. 30 elections.
Surrounded by supporters in tribal garb, clerical turbans and smart suits, Allawi announced yesterday that he will stand in the polls backed by a 240-member list of candidates meant to highlight his appeal to Iraq’s diverse and sometimes fractious ethnic and religious groups.
The US-backed prime minister pledged to work for national unity and move away from “religious and ethnic fanaticism” if elected on Jan. 30. “By depending on God, and with a firm determination and based on strong confidence in the abilities of our people, we are capable of confronting the difficulties and challenges and of making a bright future for our honorable people,” Allawi said.
Allawi said his party would push for the eventual withdrawal of multinational forces.
“Rebuilding the army and the forces of national safety enable us to work on asking for the final withdrawal of the multinational forces from our beloved country according to a set timetable,” he said.
Many in Iraq fear that the campaigning period will be targeted by insurgents opposed to the election.
Sunni clerics from the Association of Muslim Scholars urged members of the religious minority to boycott the election to protest last month’s US-led assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. The influential religious group has described plans to hold the vote in January as “madness.”
But Adnan Pachachi, an elder Sunni statesman, announced yesterday that he will take part in the polls, and said that he would lead a list of at least 70 candidates that will run for office. Pachachi, who heads the Independent Democratic Gathering, had previously urged that the ballot be delayed by several months to enable political leaders to convince Sunni political and religious leaders to abandon their boycott call.
In the latest violence, eight people were killed and 31 injured yesterday when a bomb exploded in Kerbala, hospital officials said.
The injured included Sheikh Abdul Mahdi Al-Karbalayee, a representative of Iraq’s most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, and Shiite officials said they believed the attack was an assassination attempt against Al-Karbalayee.
Three Polish soldiers were killed and four injured yesterday when their Sokol W-3 helicopter crashed near Kerbala during an emergency landing caused by an apparent “technical failure,” the Polish military said, bringing to 16 the number of soldiers from the Eastern European country to have died in Iraq.
Shiites, who make up around 60 percent of Iraq’s population, are expected to dominate the elections, and the United Iraqi Alliance has the backing of the most influential Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.
In addition to the official opening of the campaign period, yesterday also was the cutoff day for parties or independents to lodge registrations to stand in the elections.
— With input from agencies
