The Hindu : International : Surge in Iraq violence as poll nears

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Friday, Jan 07, 2005

International

International

Surge in Iraq violence as poll nears

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JAN. 6. The bodies of 18 Iraqis seeking work at American military bases have been recovered in the restive northern city of Mosul amid the controversy about the viability of holding nation-wide elections at the end of the month.

The 18 dead were Shias who belonged to Baghdad. The incident is part of a surge in violence over the last few days ahead of the January 30 poll. Key Sunni organisations, opposed to the American occupation of Iraq, have rejected elections.

But most among the majority Shias are enthusiastic about participation. Responding to demands among senior Sunni members of Iraq's U.S.-backed interim Government for the postponement of the polls, the Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, has stressed that the elections would be held on schedule.

Allawi firm

Mr. Allawi said, "The Iraqi Government and myself personally urge Iraqis to vote and participate in the political process."

Despite resistance fighters launching a string of bold attacks, the interim Prime Minister said more troops and equipment was on the way. "Our new tanks and armoured forces will appear for the first time next week to assure stability and security", he said. Mr. Allawi's remarks follow a telephone conversation that the U.S. President, George Bush, has had with the Iraqi interim President, Ghazi Al-Yawar.

Countering Mr. Yawar's earlier statement favouring the postponement of the polls, Mr. Bush, according to the White House spokesman, "talked about the importance of moving forward on the elections." Despite Mr. Allawi's forceful advocacy for the existing poll timetable, opposition to the elections within the interim administration has not ended.

Jordan hosts meet

Pascale Warda, the Minister for Displacement and Migration, told a French Radio station that there should be no objection to the postponement if it helped improve the situation on the ground.

Differences over the elections were also reflected in a meeting which Iraq's neighbours have held in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Iran and Syria have reportedly objected to a reference to non-interference in the communiqué that is being drafted.

An AFP report quoting a delegate said that, Teheran and Damascus "are opposed to a reference in the final communique to non-interference in the elections, because they believe it will imply such interference."

Key U.S. allies, Jordan and Kuwait have taken the lead in countering these reservations. Officials from Iraq and its neighbours Jordan, Syria, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as well as Egypt held talks late into the night on Wednesday, and are expected to issue a statement later.

Iraq's upcoming elections have acquired a larger Sunni-Shia dimension in the region. Jordan's King Abdullah has accused Shia-led Iran of helping Shias to come to power in Iraq. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, he also accused Iran of catalysing a "Shia crescent" in the heart of West Asia.

U.S. soldier killed

In related developments, a U.S. soldier was killed during an operation in the Al-Anbar province, which includes the restive city of Falluja. The head of police in Baghdad's Shia stronghold of Sadr City, Abdel Karim, was killed as he was driving in the west of the capital. A leader of the Iraqi communist party, Hadi Saleh, was also found strangled to death in Baghdad.

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