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Iraqi Faults U.N. on Lack of Staff to Aid in Voting
 The United Nations has not sent enough election workers to help monitor pivotal elections scheduled for January, Iraq's foreign minister said here on Wednesday. Although Iraqi leaders and the United States are pushing for elections to be held as planned, signs of open campaigning are few, with preparations for the vote clouded by threats of boycotts and continuing violence in parts of Iraq. "We feel very disappointed that the participation of the U.N. employees is not up to the required level and there is a limited number of officials, and we are at the end of October," said the foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari.A few hours later in New York, the United Nations announced that 130 Fijian soldiers would go to Baghdad to replace the troops protecting the small United Nations contingent now in place. The United Nations portrayed the move as possibly allowing it to increase its presence in Iraq but made no commitment to do so. Posted by: .com 2004-10-21 |
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