Hakim's party is also a major player in the interim government backed by the United States. At the same time, the cleric remains close to Iran, which for more than a decade sheltered and helped support his party and an allied militia.
Some Sunnis accuse Hakim's Supreme Council and another long-exiled Shiite party, Dawa, of rushing elections in order to cement their hold on power before challengers could can emerge. The Jan. 30 date was set during the U.S. occupation, with which both parties cooperated.
Iraq Casualties
Number of total U.S. military deaths and names of the U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war as announced by the Pentagon yesterday:
1,321 Fatalities
In hostile actions: 1,038
In non-hostile actions: 283
1st Lt. Christopher W. Barnett, 32, of Baton Rouge, La.; Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 156th Armor Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, based in Shreveport, La. Died Dec. 23 in Baghdad.
Chief Petty Officer Joel Egan Baldwin, 37, of Arlington, Va.; Navy Mobile Construction Battalion 77, based in Gulfport, Miss. Died Dec. 21 in Mosul.
Lance Cpl. Eric Hillenburg, 21, of Marion, Ind.
Lance Cpl. James R. Phillips, 21, of Hillsboro, Fla.
Cpl. Raleigh C. Smith, 21, of Lincoln, Mont.
All three Marines were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. They died Dec. 23 in Anbar province.
All troops were killed in action unless otherwise indicated.
Total fatalities include three civilian employees of the Defense Department.
A full list of casualties is available online at www.washingtonpost.com/nation
SOURCE: Defense Department's www.defenselink.mil/newsThe Washington Post
|
| |
|
"The time which has been fixed by the United States will only fulfill the ambition of the two or three parties that are connected to Iran. It does not allow us to make real democracy in Iraq, so we want some extension that will let all Iraqis prepare," said Salih M. Mutlag, an academic and Sunni activist. Mutlag was among 600 delegates from six largely Sunni provinces who called for a postponement last week.
"If there will be an election Jan. 30, it will not be a celebration day as everybody wanted," Mutlag said. "It will be a doomsday in Iraq."
The public appetite for elections is unclear. In opinion polls taken earlier in the year, Sunnis voiced their intention to vote nearly as emphatically as did other Iraqis. And Hindawi, who heads Iraq's independent electoral commission, said Sunni tribal leaders and others had assured him that voters remain enthusiastic.
If Sunni voters have lagged in attending to voter lists, he said, "we are sure it's because of the security situation only. It's really not a political expression of the population."
That security situation includes chilling threats to would-be voters. A leaflet circulating this week in Diyala province northwest of Baghdad bears the headline: "Ultimatum Warning Threat" below a photo of former president Saddam Hussein. The flier vows that "our Jihadist battalions" will kill election organizers, blow up polling stations and "liquidate within 48 hours" anyone who votes.
Such threats may help account for the sluggish performance of Iraqis in the only task election officials have asked of them to complete so far: correct voter rolls. Election officials are using Iraq's food ration accounts as a master list for voter rolls. With last month's food ration, each household received a tally of residents recorded as age 18 or over. If the list was accurate, no action was required. If it wasn't, the head of household was asked to make a correction at a local election office.
Election officials expected as many as 2.8 million corrections, but the first weeks brought only about 200,000, according to diplomats briefed on the process.
Sadoun Dulame, a Sunni who heads the Iraq Center for Research and Strategic Studies, said turnout in Sunni areas is expected to be so low that the Iraqi Islamic Party withdrew rather than face defeat.
"In the end, it depends on the Sunni Triangle, and the Sunni Triangle doesn't vote in the election," he said.
