No foreign observers for Iraqi polls

Deputy spokesman Adam Ereli was unable to confirm a weekend report in The Washington Post that, barring a last-minute change of heart by other countries, only one outside observer may be present in Iraq for the vote.

But he said that while foreign elections observers "would certainly provide an added dimension ... they will not determine, in and of themselves, the credibility or the legitimacy of these elections."

Ereli said thousands of Iraqis would be working as poll watchers and observers for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq during the election for a provisional national assembly.

"Ultimately the validity of these elections will be determined by them and not by outsiders," the spokesman told reporters at the State Department's daily briefing.

But six days before the vote, Ereli was unable to say whether all the Iraqi observers had undergone training by election experts as scheduled.