Insurgents occupy city hall in town north before being expelled by U.S.

The violence in Al Khalis came a day after 17 Iraqi political parties representing Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Christians and secular groups demanded a six-month delay in Jan. 30 elections until the government can secure polling places from violence.

The declaration was signed at the home of Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi during a meeting attended by three Cabinet ministers. Pachachi, a former foreign minister, said he believed the government was waiting for such a request before seriously considering whether the election can be held as scheduled.

Speaking at his vacation home in Crawford, Texas, President Bush responded to the news of the demand Friday by saying: ''The Iraqi Election Commission has scheduled elections in January, and I would hope they'd go forward in January.''

Many Sunni clerics have called for a boycott of the vote, while Iraq's majority Shiites see the vote as a chance to consolidate power after years spent oppressed by Saddam Hussein's regime.

On Saturday, about 100 insurgents attacked city hall and two police stations in Al Khalis, 40 miles north of Baghdad, said municipal official Saad Ahmed Abbas.

''They occupied the city hall for a while,'' he said.

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Gunmen attacked and briefly occupied city hall in a town north of Baghdad early Saturday before being hit by U.S. and Iraqi forces in a firefight that left several attackers dead and one policeman injured, officials said.

The incident in Al Khalis on Saturday involved about 100 attackers who raided the city hall and two police stations, said municipal official Saad Ahmed Abbas.

According to him, U.S. occupation soldiers and Iraqi security forces regained control after a two-hour exchange of fire.

Also on Saturday, a U.S. soldier was killed when a roadside bomb went off near a patrol north of Baghdad, the military said, according to The AP. The attack on the patrol took place near Duluiyah.

Also, a U.S. military vehicle was damaged in an explosion on the highway near Baghdad International Airport, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, an official in the Iraqi Communist party was assassinated northeast of Baghdad, a party spokesman said Saturday. Munir Jabar was returning home late Friday when gunmen opened fire on him in the town of Buhriz, northeast of Baghdad. (albawaba.com)

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=289648&lang=e&dir=news

BAGHDAD - As many as 100 militants stormed a police station and city hall in Al Khalis, 65 kilometres north of Baghdad on Saturday, sparking a two-hour gun battle.

The insurgents occupied the city hall for a brief time before U.S. and Iraqi forces recaptured the building, a municipal official said.

One police officer and several militants were reported killed in the fighting.

Violence primarily aimed at security forces and government buildings has prompted some of Iraqi's most powerful political parties to demand a delay in the Jan. 30 national election.

The groups, including the country's main Kurdish parties, and key secular and Sunni groups, say voters in many parts of the country are too scared to go to the polls. They warn a substandard election could inflame sectarian tensions.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2004/11/27/iraq041127.html