Iraq chose January 30th for its first democratic election in decades today, but violence in Sunni Muslim areas underlined the challenge of holding polls on time.
According to Iraq's timetable for democracy, polls must be held by the end of January for a transitional parliament that will pick a new government and oversee the writing of a constitution.
"The Electoral Commission set the date of January 30th as the date of the election," spokesman Mr Farid Ayar told Reuters. A date had been tentatively set for January 27th.
Iraq's Shi'ite majority, which was long oppressed under Saddam Hussein and hopes the election will cement its influence, is insisting that the polls be held on schedule.
But many Sunni Arabs want the election to be delayed and say they will boycott it if it goes ahead in January. Sunni Arab areas of Iraq have been the main battleground in the conflict between US-led troops and insurgents trying to drive them out.
A major US offensive this month to drive insurgents from the rebel stronghold of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, enraged many Sunni Arabs who feel they are being sidelined and persecuted after decades of dominance under Saddam Hussein.
Insurgents have threatened to disrupt the elections, and the US military says it will raise troop numbers in Iraq by delaying the departure of some units.
The vote has the potential to fuel conflict among Iraq's disparate groups.
Violence has surged in Sunni Muslim areas of Iraq this month, with insurgents attacking US and Iraqi security forces in several cities while the American military was preoccupied with driving insurgents out of Fallujah.