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Iraq

Talk turns to government alliances; election officials report complaints

BAGHDAD - A leading Sunni politician said Friday that his party would be open to an alliance with secular Shiites and Kurds to form a coalition government to run the country once the results are in from this week's parliamentary elections.

"We will not accept the exclusion of any segment of the Iraqi people unless they themselves don't want to participate," said Adan al-Dulaimi, a former Islamic studies professor who heads a Sunni Arab bloc that is now expected to have power in Parliament.

U.S. officials view Dulaimi, who heads an alliance called the Iraqi Accordance Front, as a possible intermediary who could persuade some Sunni-led insurgent groups in restive Anbar province to join the political process.

Dulaimi predicted that Shiite religious parties would be unable to form a government - even though they are widely expected to take the largest number of seats.

That would open the door to a coalition of Sunnis, secular Shiites and Kurds, Dulaimi said.

Under the newly ratified constitution, the party with the biggest number of seats gets first crack at trying to form a government that can win Parliament's endorsement. That is likely to be the coalition of Shiite religious parties that dominate the outgoing government.

Still, a government with strong Sunni Arab representation could help defuse the Sunni-dominated insurgency and allow the United States and its coalition partners to begin removing troops next year.

Jawad al-Maliki, a prominent Shiite legislator, said there was "no doubt that initial results show that we will be the strong bloc" but that a coalition would probably be required - possibly with Sunnis.

Another Shiite politician, Mouwafak al-Rubaie, said the Shiites would try to form an "inclusive" government even if they don't have to. He accused "some foreign embassies" of "working very hard" to manipulate the results.

During a news conference, election spokesman Ezzeddin al-Mohamady said authorities had received 178 election complaints so far, including 35 allegations of "violent interference" by police, soldiers or election workers.

He said 101 were related to campaigning violations such as using religious symbols in ads.

"Until now, we have not received any complaints about fraud," Mohamady said.

But Nour Eddin Saeed al-Heyaly, an official of a major Sunni Arab party, claimed 80 Iraqi army soldiers - mostly Kurds - voted twice in one northern town. He also said Iraqi soldiers prevented his party's officials from entering Tal Afar. Most soldiers in the area are Shiites or Kurds.

On Friday, Gen. George Casey Jr., the top U.S. commander, told Pentagon reporters in a video teleconference that he will make recommendations in the next few weeks about troop withdrawals from Iraq. He said he expects the force level will drop back by early February to 138,000, the usual number this year. There are about 153,000 U.S. troops in Iraq now.

But Casey sought to dampen expectation that a successful election alone would end the insurgency and predicted insurgents may escalate their attacks to demonstrate they "are still strong and a factor to be reckoned with."

"We should not expect the insurgency to just go away because of yesterday's great success," Casey said. "But we should expect it to be gradually weakened and reduced as more and more Iraqis adopt the political process and the root causes of the insurgency are addressed by the new Iraqi government and by the coalition."

In an Internet statement Friday, the Islamic Army in Iraq, a major insurgent group, said it was responsible for the absence of widespread election violence because it wanted to avoid harming Sunni Arab voters. The statement could not be immediately verified.

Although violence was low on election day, the U.S. Marines said a mortar attack Friday killed an Iraqi soldier and four children playing soccer in Parwana. Two children were injured.

About five explosions were heard in Baghdad on Friday, one of them from a mortar shell that police said wounded three people.

Also Friday, the U.S. military said Iraqi authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Mullah Halgurd Al-Khabir, the "prime suspect" in the August 2003 bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Baghdad that killed 22 people.

LONDON - A British employment tribunal ruled Friday that ABC News unfairly dismissed a reporter last year because he refused to work in Iraq.

The tribunal upheld a complaint by Richard Gizbert, who claimed ABC ended his freelance contract last year because he would not cover the war in Iraq, where foreigners, including journalists, have been targeted for kidnapping and murder.

The American network said all assignments to war zones and other dangerous areas are voluntary and argued it didn't renew Gizbert's contract for budgetary reasons. It said it would appeal.

Gizbert, a 48-year-old Canadian who works in London, is seeking $4-million in compensation. The tribunal plans to rule on that issue early next year.

[Last modified December 17, 2005, 01:02:06]