Calls for Iraq poll delay rejected

BAGHDAD - Iraq's main Shi'ite parties have insisted that elections should go ahead on January 30 as planned, rejecting mounting calls from Sunni and secular politicians to postpone the polls because of guerrilla violence.

The dispute threatens to widen sectarian divisions in a country already racked by lawlessness and widespread unrest.

A statement by 42 Shi'ite and Turkmen parties, including the influential Dawa Party and Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), said on Saturday that a postponement would be illegal.

Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, told Reuters if the election was postponed, "this would mean that the terrorists have been able to achieve one of their main objectives".

The Shi'ite statement followed a petition on Friday by 17 Sunni and secular groups for a delay of up to six months to ensure the broadest possible participation in the elections.

The parties that backed the petition drawn up after a meeting on Friday at the house of elder statesman Adnan Pachachi included the Iraqi National Accord of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and the two main Kurdish parties in the north.

Allawi's spokesman said on Saturday the prime minister took very seriously his obligation to hold elections by the end of January, as mandated by Iraq's interim constitution and a United Nations Security Council resolution.

But the statement left open the possibility of a postponement.

"The prime minister is aware of the statement made by some parties yesterday, calling for a delay in holding elections," spokesman Thaer al-Naqib said. "The prime minister understands the concern of these groups, but is equally aware of the determination of others to see elections held on time."

The statement said Allawi believed "the key to a building real and lasting democracy and stability in Iraq is ensuring all Iraqi citizens can vote". It added that "he does not believe that a delay will necessarily make such broad participation any easier to achieve".

Several leading Sunni parties have threatened to boycott the elections if they go ahead on time, saying insurgent violence in Sunni areas would prevent people in these regions from having their voices heard. Violence has delayed election preparations in most Sunni areas of Iraq.

But Iraq's 60 per cent Shi'ite majority, oppressed under Saddam Hussein, is strongly backing early elections to cement its increased political influence in the new Iraq.

Some Sunni politicans have said the dispute could spark bloodshed and even civil war.

"It is unthinkable that a large and important section of Iraqi society be left out of the political process," Pachachi told a news conference at his Baghdad home on Saturday.

"Security has to improve to enable people to vote without fear, with full security and without intimidation or pressure."

Iraq's top elections official said on Saturday he alone could not delay the poll, but did not rule out a postponement.

"Legally, to be frank, we don't have that ability," said the head of Iraq's electoral commission, Abdul Hussein Hendawi.

He said any delay to the poll would have to be discussed by the electoral commission, interim government, interim parliamentary assembly and the United Nations.

In a statement, the commission said it was still working towards holding elections on January 30.

A major obstacle to attempts by Sunni politicans to gain wider support for an election delay is the need to convince Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, Iraq's leading Shi'ite cleric, who has repeatedly insisted elections must be held as soon as possible.

There was no let-up in violence across Sunni areas of Iraq on Saturday. In Khalis, north of Baghdad, guerrillas attacked a U.S.-Iraqi base, a police station and a National Guard post but were driven back by US and Iraqi forces.

In Ramadi, a rebellious city west of Baghdad, two people were killed and three were wounded when US troops opened fire on suspected insurgents, hospital sources said.

In Duluiya, a town that lies in the restive Tigris river valley between Baquba and Samarra, a US soldier was killed when rebels detonated a roadside bomb.

And in Iraq's third largest city, Mosul, a US military spokesman said troops had discovered 17 corpses.

- REUTERS