Iraq president urges UN to review poll date [View All]

[Barrett808]

Iraq’s president urged the United Nations on Tuesday to look into whether the country should go ahead with its scheduled Jan. 30 election despite violence that could scare voters away from the polls.

“Definitely the United Nations, as an independent umbrella of legitimacy ... should really take the responsibility by seeing whether that (timing) is possible or not,” Ghazi al-Yawar told Reuters in an interview.

Iraq’s interim government and their American allies have repeatedly said that the vote would not be delayed but Yawar said the elections would fail if a raging insurgency kept a significant number of Iraqis away from voting stations.

“Definitely the United Nations, the party who is independent, who cannot be threatened or intimidated and who is credible in the international community, should really stand up for their responsibilities and obligations by saying whether that is possible or not,” he said, speaking in English.

“On a logical basis, there are signs that it will be a tough call to hold the election.”

Insurgents have been targeting leading politicians, election workers and Iraqi security forces ahead of the polls.

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