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Iraq violence leaves at least 2 dozen dead
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-27 08:32
Violence increased across Iraq after a lull following the Dec. 15
parliamentary elections, with at least two dozen people including a U.S. soldier
killed Monday in shootings and bombings mostly targeting the Shiite-dominated
security services.
Officials blamed the surge in violence on insurgent efforts to deepen the
political turmoil surrounding the contested vote. Preliminary figures ¡ª
including some returns released Monday from ballots cast early by extriate
Iraqis and some voters inside Iraq ¡ª have given a big lead to the religious
Shiite bloc that controls the current interim government.
The violence came as three opposition groups threatened a wave of protests
and civil disobedience if fraud charges are not properly investigated. The
warning came from the secular Iraqi National List, headed by former Shiite Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi, and two Sunni Arab groups.
Iraq's Electoral Commission said Monday that final results for the 275-seat
parliament could be released in about a week.
Sunni Arab and secular Shiite factions are demanding that an international
body review more than 1,500 complaints, warning they may boycott the new
legislature. They also want new elections in some provinces, including Baghdad.
The United Nations has rejected an outside review.
"We will resort to peaceful options, including protests, civil disobedience
and a boycott of the political process until our demands are met," Hassan Zaidan
al-Lahaibi, of the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, said in
neighboring Jordan, where representatives of the groups have met in recent days.
Among the complaints are 35 that the election commission considers serious
enough to change some local results. But, said Farid Ayar, a commission
official, "I don't think there is a reason to cancel the entire elections."
He also said preliminary results from early votes by soldiers, hospital
patients and prisoners and overseas Iraqis showed a coalition of Kurdish parties
and the main Shiite religious bloc each taking about a third. Those nearly
500,000 votes were not expected to alter overall results significantly.
Preliminary results previously released gave the United Iraqi Alliance, the
religious Shiite coalition dominating the current government, a big lead ¡ª but
one unlikely to allow it to govern without forming a coalition with other
groups.
Bahaa al-Araji, a member of the Shiite alliance, said the group was preparing
to negotiate with other political blocs and had already met with the Sunni Arab
Iraqi Islamic Party.
Al-Araji also said likely candidates for prime minister were current Prime
Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who heads the Islamic Dawa party, and Adel
Abdul-Mahdi, who belongs to the other main Shiite party, the Supreme Council of
the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.
Every time there has been a defining event in Iraq since the fall of Saddam
Hussein in 2003, there has been a period of calm. They included the June 28,
2004, transfer of power from the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority, the
Jan. 30 elections, and the Oct. 15 constitution referendum.
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