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BBC Monitoring Headlines, Quotes From Iraqi Press 12 Dec 05

Posted on: Monday, 12 December 2005, 09:00 CST

The following is a selection of headlines and quotes taken from the Iraqi press published on 12 Dec:

Headlines

Al-Adalah [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)]: Sayyid al-Sistani calls on Iraqis to largely take part in elections, not to split votes \ Election results to be announced five days after vote [agencies quoted] \ Stringent security measures ahead of poll; Night- time curfew to be imposed; Governorate entrances, exits, international borders, airports to be closed [AFP quoted] \ Jordan not to allow in more than 100 Iraqis daily to check passports, IDs [AFP quoted] \ President Talabani: Mecca summit achieved its strategic goals; Terrorism will come to an end in Iraq \ [Independent Electoral Commission official Farid] Ayar: Seeking to improve voting centres' performance outside Iraq [NINA quoted] \ Iraqi Tribal Alliance withdraws in favour of United Iraqi Alliance [NINA quoted] \ International observers to supervise Iraqi elections \ SCIRI central advisory council: Real fears of election fraud, vote rigging \ Fifty per cent of detainees released [agencies quoted] \ Paris curricula conference concluded \ President Talabani, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad attend ceremony to lay cornerstone for American University in Al-Sulaymaniyah [agencies quoted] \ Higher Education Ministry allocates 2bn dollars to secure urgent needs of universities, institutes in Baghdad, governorates \ Cabinet earmarks 350m dollars to support electricity production in Iraq

Baghdad [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Iraqi National Accord Movement]: Al-Sistani supports people's free choice, does not back any list \ [Iyad] Allawi calls on Electoral Commission to stop violations, says: Some parties trying to sabotage Iraqi national project \ Allawi meets Al-Anbar tribe leaders, lawyers, jurists \ Electoral list coordination committee denounces tearing of election posters \ Arts festival in support of National Iraqi List in Netherlands

Al-Bayan [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Islamic Al-Da'wah Party]: [PM Ibrahim] al-Ja'fari: Japan offers 1.5bn-dollar grant; 750m dollars allocated for governorate reconstruction \ Electoral commission calls on political entities to stop election campaigns one day before vote \ Elections to begin on Tuesday in 15 states \ Iraq reconstruction conference calls for reducing international al institutions' expenses \ Industry Ministry constructs Internet websites worth 500m dinars, signs 8bn-dinar contracts with Health Ministry ... Iraq to attend WTO 6th ministerial conference in Hong Kong \ Iraqi experience in combating administrative, financial corruption under assessment \ In opinion poll, people: Al-Ja'fari's government succeeded in undertaking its tasks despite difficulties

Al-Dustur [Baghdad, daily published by Al-Dustur Press, Publishing and Distribution House]: Interior minister: Security measures effective as of Tuesday \ Electoral Commission to halt election campaigns a day before elections [agencies quoted] \ [UN Iraq envoy Asharf] Qazi urges Iraq to sign treaty against torture [agencies quoted] \ Six-day holiday announced; No movement between Baghdad, governorates; Curfew to be imposed on Wednesday, Thursday \ Voting to begin today in hospitals, prisons, military sites in Arbil \ US forces arrest 52 gunmen in military operation in Tikrit [agencies quoted] \ Electoral Commission calls for ending military operations in Al-Anbar, Ninawa ahead of elections [agencies quoted] \ Electoral Commission opens 647 voting centre in Al-Ramadi, Mosul \ Two bodies found, one for kidnapped Egyptian contractor \ [Mas'ud] Barzani receives deputy commander of coalition troops, commander of Korean Olive battalion [agencies quoted] \ Migration minister discusses situation of Iraqis in Australia [agencies quoted]

Al-Mada [Baghdad, daily, independent newspaper published by Al- Mada Media, Culture and Arts Corporation]: Interior minister details election security plan; International borders to be sealed; Curfew to be clamped; Three security cordons around polling centres \ Kurdistan List preparations nearly over \ Vice-President Adil Abd- al-Mahdi: Iraqis alone can settle security file \ Over 20 blocs using SMS messages in election campaigns \ Iraq renews demands for joining WTO [agencies quoted] \ Banker killed; three bodies found in Baghdad [AFP quoted] \ Iraqi army frees kidnapped brother of MP from captors in Ba'qubah [AFP quoted] \ US soldier killed west of Baghdad \ Sadrist bloc describes transitional government performance as weak, calls for ending foreign presence in Iraq \ Criminal court issues life sentences against Al-Qa'idah members \ Organization of Islamic Conference appeals to all Iraqis to participate in elections

Al-Mu'tamar [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Iraqi National Congress]: [Ahmad] al-Chalabi visits Imam Ali shrine, meets [Shi'i authority] Ayatollah Shaykh Al-Ya'qubi; Crowds of visitors welcome leader of Iraqi National Congress List \ Al- Chalabi meets Karbala tribal leaders, Al-Hillah residents, Babil University students \ Al-Sistani denies supporting any electoral list [KUNA quoted] \ Election promises turn Iraq future into Eden garden \ Dutch businessman tried in Halabjah case \ Oil heater, electric set, headgear for elector vote in Tikrit \ Security situation, corruption obstruct Mosul reconstruction [NINA quoted] \ Former Iraqi official confirms prisoners tortured in secret centres \ Bulgaria to withdraw Iraqi troops after elections \. Local organizations call for release of foreign hostages ... Oil unionists in Basra: Will take part in elections to block privatization attempts \ Health Ministry: Iraqi patients treated at Italian government's expense \ Labour Ministry: Over 1,000 job opportunities provided in Baghdad, governorates

Al-Sharq al-Awsat [Baghdad edition of London-based daily Al- Sharq al-Awsat, Saudi-owned]: Al-Sistani formally announces: Will not support any list in elections \ Baghdad to close its borders, suspend movement between governorates during elections \ Jordan: We will not accept more than 100 Iraqis a day; Number of arrivals in Amman tripled after Amman bombings \ American, Iraqi killed in Baghdad; US army ends military operation \ Armed group holds four Iranians hostage in Iraq [AFP quoted] \ Former special task force official says nothing changed since Saddam downfall, tells harrowing torture stories at Interior Ministry prisons [AFP quoted] \ Allawi says conditional withdrawal of foreign troops is the solution, speaks of militias deployed in streets, illogical interventions by neighbouring states \ Al-Ja'fari: 80 per cent of Japan's debt to Iraq cancelled \ Electoral Commission: Agreement with Iraqi, multinational forces to halt military operations in Al-Anbar, Ninawa during elections \ Election violence mounting; 220 cases reported in three provinces

Al-Zaman [daily, independent, Baghdad edition of London-based Al- Zaman]: Al-Sistani warns against using religious symbols in election campaign; Allawi supports dialogue with armed groups; 318,000 observers in 32,000 voting centres \ Multinational forces pledge to stop military operations in Al-Anbar, Ninawa \ Syrian president receives [head of Muslim Scholars Association Harith] al-Dari in Damascus \ [Interior minister] Solagh: Border closure, curfew in preparation for elections \ [Former defence minister Hazim] Al- Sha'lan demands TV debate, says: Al-Ja'fari's government fabricating charges against me \ [US ambassador] Khalilzad calls on incoming parliament to re-elect Talabani as Iraq president \ Islamic Party captures gunmen attacking its members; Armed attack on Turkoman Front headquarters in Mosul \ Attempt to blow up electricity towers on Kirkuk-Baghdad road aborted \ Police: US forces detain 24 following armed attacks in Balad; Campaigns to track down suspects in Tikrit \ Unidentified men bomb electoral centre in Samarra \ Security members, prison inmates cast their ballots in Al-Nasiriyah \ Human Rights Ministry: Overcrowding, problems at Interior Ministry jails \ Multinational forces ask Interior Ministry to investigate abduction of two members of Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization \ Training programme for Iraqi women diplomats in New York, Washington

Quotes

Al-Adalah [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI)]: [From commentary by Ali Khlayf] "If we look at the political forces running in elections, especially those that lived in exile, forcibly migrated because of injustice and oppression under the former regime or offered sacrifices at home before and after the regime fall, we can find out that there is only one list that has come out of the womb of suffering of these people\ namely the United Iraqi Alliance [UIA] List, with all our respect and appreciation to all other lists and their history of struggle. It is the only list to go to the street and present its political programme before crowds of people rather than at offices or headquarters \ This indicates that the majority of Iraqi street is loyal to this list. Hence the UIA fears from fraud, vote rigging and failure to observe transparency in vote count \"

Al-Mu'tamar [Baghdad, daily newspaper in Arabic published by the Iraqi National Congress]: [From article by Tal'at Isma'il] "The question remains as to what extent elections can come out with results that may overcome the reality with all its intricacies, in a way that will place the political carte on the right track? \ The answer lies in how much the different Iraqi spectra are willing to invest the electoral card and join a more balanced National Assembly that is more representative of all the components of Iraqi people, and later form a new government echoing the votes of those who have gone to polls, a government with two definite, inseparable tasks: providing security and seriously working to end the occupation \"

Al-Zaman [daily, independent, Baghdad edition of London-based Al- Zaman]: [From article by Sa'd Abbas] "The perfect election is the one in which the elector wins and succeeds to vote for the best, most qualified and most honourable candidate who is capable of translating words into deeds, rectifying the mistakes and finding the solutions \ The country wins and new horizons of hope open once the voter passes the test of making the right choice in favour of whoever deserves his vote \"

Sources: as listed

Source: BBC Monitoring Newsfile

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