UN official: Iraq likely to postpone election
The Associated Press
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 8:55 a.m.
A United Nations official says Iraq's scheduled January elections will need to be postponed by more than a month because of a dispute over an election law that threatens to derail the U.S. withdrawal.
Sandra Mitchell, a member of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, said Wednesday during a meeting with Iraq's parliament speaker that the elections could possibly even be moved to March.
Iraqi lawmakers have been working to pass the law. But it has been mired in a dispute that highlights Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divisions. The Sunni vice president has said he would veto the law if it did not give more parliamentary seats to the minority group.
The United States has linked the pace of its drawdown to the elections.
The Associated Press
Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009 | 8:55 a.m.
A United Nations official says Iraq's scheduled January elections will need to be postponed by more than a month because of a dispute over an election law that threatens to derail the U.S. withdrawal.
Sandra Mitchell, a member of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq, said Wednesday during a meeting with Iraq's parliament speaker that the elections could possibly even be moved to March.
Iraqi lawmakers have been working to pass the law. But it has been mired in a dispute that highlights Iraq's ethnic and sectarian divisions. The Sunni vice president has said he would veto the law if it did not give more parliamentary seats to the minority group.
The United States has linked the pace of its drawdown to the elections.