US admits progress 'lagging' following Iraq election

Source: middle-east-online

American ambassador to Baghdad says timeline to forming Iraqi government slipping.

BAGHDAD - Iraq's political future was thrown into disarray on Monday after two winning candidates in a general election were disqualified, prompting the United States to admit that progress was "lagging."

A judicial panel disqualified the winning candidates along with 50 others who failed to secure parliamentary seats, further complicating troubled efforts to forge a new ruling coalition in a country that remains beset by violence.

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"This amounts to the assassination of the democratic process. Nowhere in the world are there elections in which the votes of the electorate are cancelled. This is a crime against the will of the voters," Haider al-Mullah said.

"We have prepared a letter to (UN special envoy in Iraq Ad) Melkert to try and put an end to this comedy. We are being targeted and they are trying to remove our seats" in parliament, he told Iraqi television.

Mullah warned that Iraqiya, which was widely voted for in Sunni Arab provinces, could withdraw from the electoral process completely, a decision that would risk reigniting sectarian conflict.

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