Arab candidates pull out of Iraq vote in multi-ethnic Kirkuk

[Barrett808]

KIRKUK, Iraq (AFP) - Arab candidates running in Kirkuk's provincial election have pulled out of the race in protest at the government's decision to grant displaced Kurds the right to vote, the head of the Arab electoral list told AFP.

"The decision to withdraw came after the Iraq Indepedendent Electoral Commission (IEC) allowed the displaced Kurds to register to vote. That was coupled with the security tensions in Diyala, Tikrit, Mosul and some parts of the Kirkuk," the head of the Arab list, Wasify al-Assy, said.

Assy said his Arab Unifying Front coalition had already decided to skip the national elections.

The boycott by oil-rich Kirkuk's Arab population was the long-awaited fallout from the January 16th decision by the Iraqi government and IEC to permit Kurds expelled from the city under Saddam Hussein to take part in the national and provincial vote.

The move effectively tipped the balance of power in the coveted city in favour of the Kurds and further alienated Sunni Muslim Arabs living around Kirkuk's province.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/afp/20050124/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvotearabskirkuk