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Iraq: European parliament monitors shun
poll
12.12.2005
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Brussels, 12 Dec.
(AKI) - As violence continues to escalate in Iraq,
the European Parliament has said it will not be
sending any monitors for parliamentary elections
this week to elect Iraq's first
democratically-elected, permanent assembly. "After
further verification of the security measures which
would be in place, the European Parliament has
decided not to send any delegation to Iraq for the
monitoring of the elections," spokeswoman Marjory
van den Broeke told Adnkronos International (AKI).
Military members of the security forces, prisioners,
some detainees, and hospital patients began voting
in Iraq on Monday. The rest of the country goes to
the polls on Thursday.
Two Iraqi organisations announced on Sunday that
they had assigned 2,500 observers to monitor polling
in all Iraqi provinces, including the Kurdistan
region.
Shabaakata al-Ayn for Monitoring Elections is
deploying 1,500 monitors to oversee hospitals,
military posts, and the voting process in polling
stations.
A second Iraqi organisation, Iraq without Violence,
announced that it trained over 975 individuals to
record acts of violence aimed at sabotaging the
poll.
The 318,000 assigned monitors - including 800
foreigners - will be vital, KUNA quoted the
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq's director,
Adel Al-Lami, as saying.
Iraqi voters will elect a 275-seat Council of
Representatives for a four-year term. There are 307
political groups and 19 coalitions registered to
contest the poll, accoridng to the IECI.
www.adnki.com
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