Sunni party boycotts Iraq polls [View All]

Sunni party boycotts Iraq polls
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4127623.stm
Iraq's main Sunni Muslim political movement, the Iraqi Islamic party, says it is withdrawing from next month's general elections

The party's leader told reporters in Baghdad that the move was motivated by the authorities' refusal to delay elections so all areas could vote.

"We said we would take part only if certain conditions had been met and they have not," Mohsen Abul Hamid said.

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related?
if he did it here -- why not there?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/20021315...

A spokesman for Iraq's election commission yesterday rejected a suggestion from the Bush administration that it adjust the results of next month's vote to expand the Sunni Arab presence in the new legislature and government if low turnout in the volatile Sunni areas means Shiites win an exaggerated majority in the new 275-seat assembly.

The New York Times reported yesterday that Shiite leaders had been discreetly approached about the idea by American officials, who argued that including the Sunnis, who make up about 20 percent of the population, would diminish the chances of post-election violence against the Shiites, who are 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population.

Calling the U.S. overtures unacceptable interference, Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said: "Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election.