WASHINGTON—The White House appeared to lay the groundwork yesterday for delaying the Jan. 30 national elections in Iraq by emphasizing that any decision to change the date was up to the Iraqi Election Commission.

White House press secretary Scott McClellan, responding to calls for postponement by some Iraqi officials, said U.S. President George W. Bush still favors the current timetable and has dispatched military reinforcements to bolster Iraqi security for the vote.

But he stressed the politically independent election commission would make the final decision on whether to change the election date.

His comments came on a day insurgents assassinated the governor of Baghdad along with six bodyguards and waged other attacks that killed five U.S. troops and 13 other Iraqis, bringing the death toll in the last three days to more than 70 and exposing grave security flaws.

"The Iraqi Election Commission has set the timetable of Jan. 30. We support the Iraqi Election Commission and the Iraqi people in their desire to move forward on elections," McClellan said.

Yesterday's attacks made it the deadliest day for American troops since a suicide bombing in a military mess tent in Mosul on Dec. 21 killed 22 people.

The militant group of Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for killing Governor Ali al-Haidari and his bodyguards, according to a statement posted on a website known for carrying such claims, Associated Press reported. The statement's authenticity could not immediately be verified.

Al-Haidari's three-vehicle convoy was passing through Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Hurriyah when gunmen opened fire, said his security chief.

Al-Haidari was the highest-ranking Iraqi official killed since May. He worked closely with the U.S.-led multinational forces on rebuilding the capital.

In an interview published yesterday in al-Mutamar newspaper, al-Haidari said infrastructure in Baghdad was improving because of co-operation between his office and the troops.

Also yesterday, a tanker truck packed with explosives blew up near an interior ministry commando headquarters in western Baghdad, killing eight Iraqi commandos and two civilians and wounding about 60, the ministry said. Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for that attack as well.

Later, a roadside bomb killed three Iraqi National Guardsmen near Baqouba, 55 kilometers northeast of Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said. In American deaths, a roadside bomb killed three U.S. soldiers in Baghdad, and a soldier and a marine died in other attacks, officials said.

`On a logical basis, there are signs that it will be a tough call to hold the election.' Ghazi al-Yawar, Iraq president

"For much of the country, the situation is secure enough to move forward on holding elections," McClellan insisted yesterday. "There are a few areas that we're continuing to work to improve the security situation, so those areas will be able to have as full a participation as possible in elections."

While it's true that many areas of Iraq are calm, there are vast regions, including the capital, that are extremely dangerous. In places like Falluja, which was bombed to ruins in a U.S.-led campaign in November, and the northern city of Mosul, there has been little headway in preparing for the election.

Attacks have prompted Sunni Arab clerics to call for a boycott, and Iraq's largest Sunni political party announced it was pulling out of the race because of poor security. The country's Shiites, many of whom are in the government, want to take power but they also want the Sunnis to participate in the vote. A low turnout because of the fear of violence or a Sunni boycott could undermine the legitimacy of the country's first free elections since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1958.

Several Iraqi leaders, including the defense minister and the ambassador to the United Nations, have suggested delaying the election as a way to get Sunnis to take part, but other officials support interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and want it held on time.

McClellan said Bush and Allawi talked by telephone on Monday but did not discuss delaying the Jan. 30 election. In Baghdad, however, Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar told Reuters the United Nations should look into whether the country should go ahead with the election as scheduled.

"On a logical basis, there are signs that it will be a tough call to hold the election," said Yawar, a Sunni politician. "Definitely the United Nations ... who cannot be threatened or intimidated and who is credible in the international community, should really stand up for their responsibilities and obligations by saying whether that is possible or not."

Iraqi Defense Minister Hazem Shaalan on Monday suggested postponing the election to give authorities in predominantly Sunni Egypt more time to persuade Iraqi Sunni Muslims to take part in the contest.

Samir al-Sumaidaie, Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations and a prominent Sunni Muslim businessman, also urged an election delay in an opinion piece in The Washington Post.

"To hold elections under current circumstances, when a sizable part of the country is not secure, just for the sake of voting, would produce a disproportionate and non-representative national assembly," he warned.

Talk of delaying the election stems not just from security worries. Sunni Muslims, who make up about one-third of the Iraqi population, are concerned they would lose the political and economic power they once enjoyed under Saddam Hussein if Sunnis are too frightened to vote but the rival Shiite community turns out in force.

The Jan. 30 election will select members of a 275-member National Assembly. The assembly in turn will appoint a new Iraqi government and draft a permanent constitution that will be submitted to voters in October to set the stage for a new national election by Dec. 31.

The Bush administration hurriedly arranged a telephone hookup with a senior state department official handling election preparations in Baghdad in an effort to quell talk of delaying the vote.

"With respect to who can turn off the elections, it is the election commission that is responsible," the official emphasized. "The decision first goes to them."

Copyright © 2005 Toronto Star Newspapers Limited.

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