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BAGHDAD, Iraq 29.Aug. (AP) -- Iraq's electoral
commission announced Monday it has extended the
registration period in troubled Anbar province by a
week to allow its residents to participate in the
constitutional referendum and general elections.
Safwat Rashid, an official with the Independent
Electoral Commission, said that out of 28
registration centers in the western province, only
19 had opened so far.
The nationwide drive to register voters for the Oct.
15 referendum on Iraq's proposed constitution and
general elections in December opened on Aug. 3. A
total of 544 centers are registering voters.
The commission said the decision to extend the
period in Anbar until Sept. 7, was made because some
centers opened late because of logistical and
security reasons, ''and in order to allow the
biggest number of voters to (register), as well as
because of demands by political groups.''
On Sunday, Sunni Arab representatives rejected the
draft of the new constitution shortly after it was
finalized by the dominant Shiite-Kurdish bloc. If
two-thirds of voters in any three provinces reject
the charter, the constitution will be defeated.
Sunnis are majority in four of Iraq's 18 provinces.
The predominantly Sunni Anbar province, where
insurgents have been especially active, has been a
dangerous place for election workers since militants
warned people not to take part in the ballots.
U.S. and Iraqi government forces have been carrying
out anti-insurgency campaigns in cities and towns in
Anbar, Iraq's largest province, which borders Saudi
Arabia, Jordan and Syria. More than 20 U.S. Marines
were killed in combat in the region this month.
Hamdiya al-Husseini, the commission's deputy
chairman, said tribal leaders from Anbar have
promised to protect voter centers.
The number of eligible voters in Iraq is estimated
at about 16 million.
Some 14.2 million Iraqis were eligible to cast
ballots in landmark elections in January for a
275-member parliament and a local assembly in the
Kurdish north. More than 8 million people, most of
them Shiite Muslims and Kurds, took part.
Many Sunnis, who dominated Iraq for decades,
boycotted that vote, fearing insurgent attacks or
heeding calls by rebels and hard-line clerics. The
religious minority also forms the core of the
insurgency.
But efforts to encourage them to join Iraq's
political process received a boost this month when
Adnan al-Dulaimi, spokesman of the General
Conference for Sunnis in Iraq, endorsed the upcoming
ballots. The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni
political group, has also urged people to go out and
vote.
AP
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