Iraq's interim vice-president yesterday said the government was drawing up a state of emergency law which it may implement ahead of national elections set for January. "The law to create a state of emergency has been submitted to the cabinet and the presidential council for approval," said Ibrahim Al Jaafari, after a meeting with Shia religious leader Grand Ayatollah Al Sistani in the holy city of Najaf, south of Baghdad. He said the daily violence and insecurity in Iraq justifies the legislation. "Every country should have access to an emergency law when the security situation demands it," the vice-president told a group of reporters in Najaf. If such a law entered into force "it would only be applied in unstable regions for limited periods of time," said Jaafari.
| "Only until the bad guys are dead," he added. |
Al Jaafari also sought to dismiss fears that elections in Iraq would not be held on time because of the daily bloodshed. "This is an Iraqi affair and we are working hard to improve the security climate," he said. Leaders from Iraq's Shia majority want the landmark polls to take place on time, by January 31, as they are eager for a slice of political power that was deprived from them during the former regime of Saddam Hussein, a Sunni. In contrast, many influential Sunni Muslim figures have threatened to boycott the upcoming vote if US and Iraqi forces resort to further military offensives to end the insurgency in Iraq.
| I'd like to see Allawi call them on that. |
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