IRAQ: Iraq's election body rejected a suggestion in Washington that it adjust the results of next month's vote to benefit the Sunni minority if low turnout in Sunni areas means Shias win an exaggerated majority in the new assembly.
Speaking of "unacceptable" interference, Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said: "Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election."
Next month's vote will elect 275 legislators who will appoint a president and government and oversee the drafting of a new constitution over the next year.
In scattered violence in the north and west of Iraq yesterday, a police colonel was assassinated in Baghdad. Local witnesses said a civilian was killed in two hours of fighting near Samarra between US forces and insurgents, and two civilians were killed in clashes in the desert town of Qaim.
An insurgent accidentally killed himself and four members of his family in the southern city of Kerbala on Sunday when a bomb he was making exploded prematurely.
Police in the Shia holy city of Najaf said they were making progress in catching those responsible for the bombing last week that killed 52 people, seen as an attempt to spark sectarian conflict in the run-up to the election. - (Reuters)