Iraqi Shias launch united polls front

The coalition of 22 parties and groups, calling itself the United Iraqi Alliance, includes leaders of the long-oppressed 60-percent Shia Muslim majority. Formed under the auspices of the country's most influential cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, it also involves figures from other sectarian and ethnic groups.

Major Sunni and Kurdish parties have yet to begin campaigns.

US and Iraqi security officials admitted, on a day that saw only limited attacks on their forces, that despite a major US offensive on the rebel city of Falluja last month there was no way to prevent mainly Sunni insurgents shedding blood during an election that should consolidate new power for the Shias.

But interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi disowned a suggestion that the Jan. 30 vote, intended to be Iraq's first truly democratic election, might in fact be spread over several days or weeks to allow people to cast their ballots in more safety.

Citing a UN deadline of the end of January for electing a national assembly, aides said Allawi had been misquoted by a Swiss newspaper and said: "The Iraqi government ... is very well aware of the importance of holding elections on time."

The US-backed interim president complained neighboring Syria was helping former allies of Saddam Hussein to foment rebellion but expressed confidence the insurgency would fail.