Iraqi PM's party joins call for polls delay

Iraqi women walk past election posters in Baghdad yesterday. Iraq's electoral commission rules out a postponement of the elections it set for January 30, following a request by several leading parties which now have to decide whether or not to take part in the landmark polls. PHOTO: AFP

Seventeen political parties and movements called on Friday night for a delay of up to six months in the elections, saying violence was undermining preparations for a credible poll.

Allawi's Iraqi National Accord joined the original signatories on a list which includes the two main Kurdish parties and a party led by former presidential candidate Adnan Pachachi, an influential Sunni leader. "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 yesterday.

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

Sunni Arab parties and clerics have pushed for a delay in the wake of the US offensive in the Sunni city of Falluja and a surge in violence across Sunni areas of Iraq. Some Sunni Arabs, feeling increasingly marginalised since the US-led war toppled Saddam Hussein, have threatened to boycott the vote.

The main secular parties fear being marginalised by Shia Islamist parties, which stand to gain the most from the poll.

Iraq's 60 percent Shia majority, oppressed under Saddam, is keen for the election go ahead on time, knowing it is likely to cement the increased power Shias have enjoyed since Saddam's overthrow.

In Latifiyah US-led forces raided lawless enclaves south of Baghdad Friday night, arresting nine wanted insurgents and seizing large amounts of weapons.

According to an AFP correspondent in Latifiyah, US-led troops carried out operations throughout the night, a day after reclaiming control of the streets.