IRAQ: Political parties in Iraq called yesterday for the January 30th general election to be postponed for some months due to violence that is becoming widespread in the Gulf country.
Following a meeting at the Baghdad home of Mr Adnan Pachachi, a moderate Sunni leader and former presidential candidate, 15 political parties and groups signed a petition calling for the election to take place at a yet-to-be agreed date within the following six months.
"The participants call for elections to be delayed and to be held within six months, allowing for changes in the security situation and completion of necessary arrangements in terms of organisation and administration," the petition read.
Representatives from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) signed the petition yesterday.
A delegate from the Iraqi National Accord, headed by Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, attended but did not sign.
But speaking from Texas, the US President, Mr George W Bush, said it was his wish that the vote go ahead as scheduled.
"In terms of Iraq, the Iraqi Election Commission has scheduled elections in January, and I would hope they would go forward in January," Mr Bush said.
Significantly, no representatives of the country's two main Shia parties, Dawa and the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, were present at the meeting. Their absence marked division in the country on religious lines between Shias and Sunni Muslims.
Most Shias are eager for early elections. Oppressed during the rule of Saddam Hussein, they are eager now to cement the increased political power they have gained since his overthrow last year.
The call for postponement comes amid mounting violence, particularly in Sunni Muslim areas to the north and west of Baghdad.
British security firm Global Risk Strategies said four of its employees were killed and about 15 wounded in a mortar attack on the heavily defended Green Zone, the home to the interim government, on Thursday.
In recent weeks, the Muslim Clerics' Association, a group of senior Sunni scholars, has called for a boycott of the poll. For their part, the Iraqi Islamic Party, the country's main Sunni party, which signed the petition, has said it will boycott the elections if they go ahead as planned.
In the wake of the US-led offensive on the Sunni city of Falluja, and fighting in other Sunni strongholds, the parties argue that there is not enough time to arrange free and fair elections.
Iraq's interim constitution says elections must be held by the end of January in order to choose a parliament that will select a new cabinet and oversee the writing of a permanent constitution.
Mr Pachachi's backing for an election postponement is significant here. The Sunni politician is seen as an Iraqi elder statesman and is closely allied to Washington. He was also a UN favourite for the Iraqi presidency.
The participation of the Kurds is also significant. Not only are they close to the United States, but Kurdish regional elections, a chance for the parties to show their strength and influence, were also due to be held on January 30th.
The London-based firm Global Risk Strategies gave no further information on the death of four of its workers, or their nationalities, in the Green Zone earlier this week. Coalition sources said they were believed to be Nepalese Gurkhas, hundreds of whom work for Global in Iraq.
The Green Zone, a sprawling Baghdad complex surrounded by blast walls, is attacked by mortars or rockets regularly, although most attacks cause little damage and few casualties.
Global Risk Strategies employs more than 1,000 security personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan, protecting installations such as Baghdad's international airport.