Iraq's interim Prime Minister wants elections to go ahead as planned in January even if violence prevented some Iraqis from voting.
"We are aiming at all the country to be involved in the elections," Mr Iyad Allawi told Britain's Timesand Guardiannewpapers today.
"If for any reason 300,000 people cannot vote because terrorists decide so - and this is imposing a very big if - then frankly 300,000 people is not going to alter 24 million people voting.
"What we are after really is implementing the political process."
Asked if elections could be held in one part of the country but not another, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said: "Our strategy is to bring all these places under government control and to do it in time for the elections."
At least 110 people were killed across Iraq on Sunday in a sharp escalation of violence that saw gun battles, car bombs and bombardments rock Baghdad.
The surge in violence coincided with new US offensives to recapture insurgent-held areas before the elections.
US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday there would "undoubtedly be violence up until the elections and probably even during the elections".