Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission does not rule out holding next month's elections over an extended period, as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has suggested, but it said today that the fixed date remained January 30th.
"Well, why not? It could be done, maybe," Mr Farid Ayar, a member of and spokesman for the commission, said when asked to respond to a reported suggestion by Mr Allawi that the poll be held over two to three weeks to mitigate the threat of violence.
"We have not heard anything official on this. We have only heard reports ... But we may have to study the matter."