IRAQ: Elections will go ahead in Iraq next January as planned, despite the violence ravaging the country, said the interim Prime Minister, Mr Iyad Allawi, yesterday.
"We will have those elections on time in Iraq next year," Mr Allawi said in a speech to the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.
"We are certain that by January most of the Iraqi people will be able to vote, if not all. The vast majority of the Iraqi people would want to vote and will be voting."
Speaking to an audience of journalists and academics, Mr Allawi condemned as repugnant the kidnapping of British engineer Mr Kenneth Bigley. He said Iraq was making serious progress in defeating extremists such as those holding him.
"It is repugnant to take an innocent man such as Kenneth Bigley and to use him as a political pawn in this way," he said. "The anguish and pain inflicted on his family and friends are indescribable. We are doing our best to do whatever it takes to secure his release."
He said he was saddened by the way the media had covered the hostage crisis, which has dominated news bulletins in Britain, overshadowing the Labour Party's annual conference.
"Let us not forget that this sort of terrorism depends entirely on publicity," Mr Allawi said. "We therefore need to think long and hard about the way this kidnapping has been covered by the media." Mr Bigley's captors released a videotape which was broadcast on Wednesday showing Mr Bigley squatting, chained in a cage, pleading for his life and begging Mr Blair to help. The kidnappers have already beheaded two US captives.
Mr Allawi was speaking hours after yesterday's car bombs near Baghdad, where the number of people killed neared 50, most of whom were children.