Iraqi Islamic party withdraws from the elections

The Iraqi Islamic party officially announced its withdrawal from the elections due to be held on January 30, 2005. In a press conference held on Monday the party said that the reason behind the withdrawal is that no appropriate conditions are available for carrying out the elections.

The chairman of the council Mohsin Abdul Hamid said "we are forced to do this," noting that the decision came after the Iraqi authorities refused to postpone the elections for next 6 months in order to ensure vast participation.

He said that the elections will not be held in a just and clear way under the current conditions, adding that works of the higher commission for the elections are not clear and did not answer many of the questions raised by the party.

The withdrawal decision coincided with the announcement made by the interim Iraqi foreign minister in conclusion of his visit to Peking that the set elections might be postponed in certain Iraqi areas because of the lack of security.

Hoshyar Zeibari admitted that security is still the big issue in areas such as al-Musil and around Baghdad, noting that the postponement in these area will enable the government to concentrate on the security mission for the interests of other parts of the country.

He explained that the elections committee will have the final say in this issue, stressing that there will be no fundamental changes in the elections agenda.