Iraqi leaders send mixed signals on election date

The interim government has been adamant about respecting the calendar of the transitional political process, drawn with the help of the United Nations and which gave January 31, 2005 as the deadline for the elections.

In a move to pacify the country before the polls, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi gave an ultimatum on Wednesday to the Sunni Muslim militant bastion of Fallujah to hand over Islamist Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi or face a large-scale attack.

But Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said in an interview published Thursday that the much-anticipated elections could be delayed if the security situation had not sufficiently improved.

The contradictions in the declarations stem from a different view on the way to hold the elections.

Some Iraqi officials seem to be ready to exclude rebel-held regions from the electoral process while others, including the Sunni president, insist that the polls should be held across the country.

"Yes, the date is January 31, but this date is not sacred," Yawar told the London-based Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

"We are deploying all our efforts to meet this deadline. But if we judge that a ballot at this date -- without security and conditions allowing free elections for all -- will have a negative fallout on our country, then we will not hesitate to change the date," he said.

"We are not giving up on holding elections in all of Iraq's cities. The inhabitants of Sadr City, Fallujah, Samarra and all cities in Iraq, as well as any Iraqi who has the opportunity to vote, should take part in the elections."

The diverging views were appearing at a time the debate on the possibility of holding the legislative elections seemed to be calming down.

The independent electoral commission has just confirmed its intention to launch the registration process for the voters and the candidates on time on November 1.