Attacks in Iraq are expected to increase before and after the elections

Each of the chief of staff of the joint American forces lt. gen. Richard Meyers and the interim Iraqi prime minister Eyad Allawi expected the escalation of attacks by Iraqi fighters in Iraq before and after the elections due on January 30, 2005.

Meyers said during his visit to Baghdad yesterday that acts of violence will increase as the date of elections approaches, noting simultaneously that postponing the elections will enhance their position.

For his part, the Iraqi prime minister expected the armed operations number to increase after the elections and admitted that controlling the security conditions is not an easy job.

He said in a speech before the interim national council ( parliament) that the level of the attacks started to decrease from 80 operations per day to 50, noting that the operations have recently inclined to terrify the state officials.

Both Meyers and Allawi expected that the families evacuated Fallujah before the American attack in November will return back within the few coming days despite the frequent fighting there. The prime minister, on the other hand, noted that one Abu Musab al-Zarqawi aid was killed and two other aides were arrested.