在线国产一区二区_成人黄色片在线观看_国产成人免费_日韩精品免费在线视频_亚洲精品美女久久_欧美一级免费在线观看

  Home>News Center>World
         
 

US sends more troops to Iraq for elections
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-02 08:08

Iraq's president on Wednesday insisted elections should go ahead next month as planned and the United States said it would send thousands more soldiers to provide extra security for the ballot.

Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar speaks at a press conference in Baghdad, December 1, 2004. Al-Yawar expressed his support for holding the country's national elections as scheduled on January 30, 2005. (Reuters)
Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar speaks at a press conference in Baghdad, December 1, 2004. Al-Yawar expressed his support for holding the country's national elections as scheduled on January 30, 2005. [Reuters]
The U.S. military will temporarily boost its troop strength in Iraq to about 150,000 from 138,000 for the election set for Jan. 30, U.S. defense officials said.

"There will be some short-term deployments of additional troops to help with security," an official said in Washington. "This will all boost our military presence to about 150,000 over the short term."

Iraq's president, Ghazi al-Yawar, said the election should go ahead on time, distancing himself from other leading Sunni Arab politicians who are demanding the polls be put off to a later date because of widespread unrest.

Yawar, a Sunni businessman and tribal elder appointed to the largely symbolic post of president in June, is the first prominent Sunni to reject calls for a postponement.

"We must go ahead with elections, from a legal and a moral point of view... it's my personal view they should go ahead on time," Yawar told a news conference in Baghdad.

Iraq's interim constitution, endorsed by the United Nations, says elections must be held by the end of January to select a transitional assembly which will pick a new cabinet and oversee the drafting of a permanent constitution.

Two US soldiers during a night patrol in Iraq. The Pentagon said it will raise US force levels in Iraq from 138,000 to about 150,000 by late December or early January, ahead of the country's first elections since Saddam Hussein's ouster. [AFP]
Two US soldiers during a night patrol in Iraq. The Pentagon said it will raise US force levels in Iraq from 138,000 to about 150,000 by late December or early January, ahead of the country's first elections since Saddam Hussein's ouster. [AFP]
The U.S. military says it will crack down on insurgents in rebel strongholds by the end of the year to improve security in time for the elections.

On Wednesday, U.S. Marines fought off Iraqi insurgents who attacked them with mortars during a series of raids to hunt down arms and guerrilla suspects south of Baghdad.

Hundreds of U.S. and British troops raided farms and homes in a fertile stretch of the Euphrates Valley where support for Saddam Hussein used to be strong, and detained 15 suspected guerrillas.

IRAQ DIVIDED

Controversy over the elections has divided Iraq largely along sectarian and ethnic lines. Shi'ites, who make up around 60 percent of the population but were long oppressed under Saddam, insist the polls must go ahead as scheduled, confident the election will cement their new political clout.

But Sunni Arabs, who dominated the country during the rule of Saddam Hussein despite only comprising 20 percent of the population, fear they are being marginalised and say violence in Sunni areas will prevent the election from being free and fair.

Several leading Sunni Arab parties have called for the elections to be postponed by up to six months. Many say they will boycott the polls if they are held in January.

Adnan Pachachi, an Iraqi elder statesman who lost out to Yawar in jockeyeing for the presidency in June, has been spearheading calls for an election delay, saying violence could worsen unless Sunni Arabs can be persuaded to back the polls.

The insurgency against U.S.-led forces and Iraq's American- backed government is dominated by Sunni Arabs, and guerrilla violence has largely been concentrated in Sunni areas.

Iraq's Kurds, who have ruled an autonomous zone in northern Iraq for more than a decade, are ambivalent on calls for an election delay, saying they will accept a delay if a consensus emerges favoring a postponement of the polls.

But while Sunni Arabs parties have mainly been focusing their energies on trying to delay the elections, Shi'ite and Kurdish groups have been maneuvering to ensure they maximize the number of seats they will win.

Under the election rules, Iraq is treated as a single constituency and rival party alliances must submit a list of candidates. The proportion of votes that each slate receives determines how many candidates on that slate are elected.

Leading Shi'ite groups, including the two main Shi'ite political parties -- Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq -- as well as the movement led by radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, are in talks on joining together on a single slate to ensure the Shi'ite vote is not split.

In northern Iraq, the country's two main Kurdish parties and several smaller Kurdish groups have agreed to contest the elections on a single slate.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

China's mining sector sounds the alarm

 

   
 

China, EU to sign cooperative agreements

 

   
 

11 people jailed for Xi'an lottery fraud

 

   
 

China to bailout two more state banks

 

   
 

65 people missing in Guizhou landslide

 

   
 

Putin strongly opposes new Ukraine runoff

 

   
  U.S. can use evidence gained by Torture
   
  30 killed in pair of major attacks in Iraq
   
  GI deserter Jenkins free to leave base
   
  Thousands mark Bhopal industrial disaster
   
  Bush names new head of homeland security
   
  World response muted to Rwanda-Congo war
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩精品一区在线 | 国产精品三级在线观看 | 久草免费在线视频 | 长河落日 | 福利影院在线观看 | 69福利视频 | 色综合一区二区 | 日本在线视频一区 | 久久久九九 | 日本青青草 | 国产一区二区精品丝袜 | 午夜视频一区 | 久久久一区二区三区 | 亚洲一区二区在线播放 | 欧美日韩中文字幕 | 不卡视频在线观看 | 天天噜 | av在线免费网站 | 毛片资源 | a级片在线免费观看 | 国产中文在线 | 综合导航| 亚洲黄色天堂 | 中文字幕理论片 | 久久r | 国产综合久久久 | 中文字幕播放 | 老司机午夜视频 | 69精品人人人人 | 一级真人毛片 | 黄色片网站视频 | 欧美激情第二页 | 天天澡天天狠天天天做 | 久久精品中文 | 欧美成人精品欧美一级私黄 | 亚洲经典av | www.sihu| 青青操影院| 不卡的av网站 | 亚洲精品视频在线观看免费 | 天天操操操 |