Iraq vote could be delayed

Iraq's deputy prime minister has indicated for the first time that the much-heralded elections due in January could be derailed by the country's violent insurgency.

Barham Salih said the authorities were determined to hold the vote, but admitted they would have to assess the security situation nearer the time.

"Holding free and fair elections on time is an obligation that we have undertaken towards the Iraqi people," he said. But he added: "Nearer the time, the Iraqi government, the United Nations, the independent election commission and the national assembly will have to engage in a real and hard-headed dialogue to assess the situation."

It is the first time a senior figure in the interim government has acknowledged that the dire security situation in large parts of the country could affect the political process.

Yesterday, as US troops widened their control of the insurgent bastion of Falluja, marines found what appeared to be the mutilated body of a western woman. Only two foreign women are being held by kidnappers: Margaret Hassan, 59, the British-Iraqi director of the charity Care International, and Teresa Borcz Khalifa, 54, a Polish woman who has lived in Iraq for many years.

One officer said he was "80% sure" the body was a western woman. It was found in the street, covered with a cloth soaked in blood.

Meanwhile, the Arab satellite TV network al-Jazeera, quoting unidentified sources, reported that an Islamist group had freed two women relatives of the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, but were still holding his cousin hostage.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1351481,00.html