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Preliminary results of Iraqi election are
released
20.12.2005
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BAGHDAD, Iraq –
Iraq's electoral commission released partial and
preliminary results Monday from the Dec. 15
elections that showed Shiite and Kurdish parties
dominating in provinces where they are the
predominant group.
Meanwhile, about 24 top former officials in Saddam
Hussein's government were released from jail, and
demonstrations broke out across Iraq in protest of
the government's decision to raise the price of
gasoline, heating and cooking fuel.
The election commission did not release any results
from provinces where Sunni Arabs are up the majority
of the population. The results show that the votes
were divided along ethnic and sectarian lines. The
commission didn't say how many people voted overall
or provide further details.
In Baghdad province, results from 89% of the ballot
boxes showed the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance ahead
with 58% of the vote in Iraq's biggest electoral
district. The electoral commission said the alliance
received 1,403,901 votes, followed by the Sunni Arab
Iraqi Accordance Front with 451,782 votes, and
former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqi National
List ticket with 327,174 votes.
Baghdad is Iraq's biggest electoral district with
2,161 candidates running for 59 of parliament's 275
seats. The province is mixed but has a large Shiite
population, with many of them living in the
capital's sprawling Sadr City.
Results from southern Basra province, also mixed but
predominantly Shiite, saw the clergy-backed alliance
significantly ahead, winning 612,206 votes with 98%
of ballot boxes counted. Mr. Allawi, a secular
Shiite, was in second place with 87,134 votes, while
the accordance party trailed with 36,997.
Kurdish parties were overwhelmingly ahead in their
three northern provinces.
In Dahuk, results from 93% of ballot boxes showed
the Kurdistan Coalition List, an alliance consisting
of the two main Kurdish parties, received 344,717
votes representing 89% of votes counted. The
Kurdistan Islamic Union followed with 28,401
ballots, while the Rafidian party, which represents
Assyrian Christians, trailed with 4,696. Mr. Allawi
received just 2,327 votes.
In Irbil, results from 76% of ballot boxes showed
the alliance winning 570,098 votes -- or 95%. The
Islamic union won 19,612, or 3.24% percent, while
Mr. Allawi's ticket had just 2,420. In Sulaimaniyah,
results from 98% of ballot boxes showed alliance
ahead with 671,814 votes, followed by the Islamic
union with 83,208 -- and trailed by Mr. Allawi with
1,806.
Anger Over Higher Fuel Prices
Fuel prices were raised on Sunday to curb a growing
black market, said Oil Ministry spokesman Assem
Jihad. The price of a liter of imported and super
gasoline was raised to 17 U.S. cents, a fivefold
increase from previous prices. The price of locally
produced gasoline was raised about sevenfold to
about 12 cents per liter.
Drivers blocked roads and set tires on fire near
fuel stations in the southern city of Basra, and
hundreds demonstrated outside the governor's
headquarters to protest the increases.
Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said that when
the cabinet raised prices it also decided that the
extra money would be used to support more than two
million low-income families so they wouldn't be
burdened by the increases. Some aid money was
supposed to reach the families before the price
increase, but that didn't happen, he said.
"Dr. Ibrahim will submit his resignation to the
Iraqi government if the situation continues as is,"
he said, referring to himself. "We should take in
consideration the living conditions and the economic
situation of the citizens."
Iraq's oil minister has previously said that cheap
domestic fuel prices had encouraged smuggling to
other countries. Iraq's government has continued Mr.
Hussein's practice of heavily subsidizing fuel
prices.
'Dr. Germ' Among Detainees Released
An Iraqi lawyer said the 24 or 25 officials from Mr.
Hussein's government -- including Rihab Taha, a
British-educated biological-weapons expert known as
"Dr. Germ" for her role in making bio-weapons in the
1980s, and Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, called "Mrs.
Anthrax" and a biotech researcher -- have been
released from jail, and some have already left the
country.
Badee Izzat Aref said some of the people released
were his clients. "The release was an American-Iraqi
decision and in line with an Iraqi government ruling
made in December 2004, but hasn't been enforced
until after the elections in an attempt to ease the
political pressure in Iraq," he said.
Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a U.S. military spokesman in
Baghdad, would say only that eight individuals
formerly designated as high-value detainees had been
released on Saturday after a board process found
they were no longer a security threat and no charges
would be filed against them.
Neither the U.S. military or Iraqi officials would
disclose any of the names, but a legal official in
Baghdad said Ms. Taha and Ms. Ammash were among
those released.
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomb exploded outside a
children's hospital in western Baghdad Monday,
killing at least two people and wounding 11,
including seven policemen, officials said. Police
believe the bomb had been targeting a passing convoy
carrying a police colonel, who was among the
injured.
In western Baghdad, gunmen attacked the convoy of
the city's Deputy Gov. Ziad Tariq, killing three
civilians and wounding three of Mr. Tariq's
bodyguards, Baghdad police said. Mr. Tariq was not
injured.
An extremist group, the Islamic Army of Iraq, posted
a video on a Web site Monday that showed an
unidentified man being shot in the back of the head,
and the group claimed the killing was of American
adviser Ronald Allen Schulz. The video did not show
the face of the victim, however, and it was
impossible to identify him conclusively.
AP
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