Iraq's president urged the United Nations today to look into whether the country should go ahead with its scheduled January 30 election despite violence threatening to scare voters away from the polls.
"Definitely the United Nations, as an independent umbrella of legitimacy ... should really take the responsibility by seeing whether that (timing) is possible or not," Mr Ghazi al-Yawar said in an interview.
The United Nations said it was up to Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission to decide. No official request had been received from Yawar, said UN spokeswoman Ms Marie Okabe.
Iraq's interim government and its American allies have repeatedly said that the vote would not be delayed. But Mr Yawar said the polls would fail if a raging insurgency kept a significant number of Sunnis away from voting stations.
"Definitely the United Nations, the party who is independent, who cannot be threatened or intimidated and who is credible in the international community, should really stand up for their responsibilities and obligations by saying whether that is possible or not," he said.
"On a logical basis, there are signs that it will be a tough call to hold the election," said Yawar, a Sunni who has formed his own election list.
A senior US State Department official told reporters at the Pentagon from Baghdad: "I think absolutely the elections are going to be held on January 30."
Insurgents have been targeting leading politicians, election workers and Iraqi security forces ahead of the polls.
Mr Yawar said that some members of Iraq's interim government believe the polls should be delayed but did not have the authority to press for a new timetable.
"For the executive branch of the government to come and call for a delay in the elections, people will start thinking that we are enjoying these positions right now and we just want to stay here," said Yawar.
Iraq's temporary constitution, endorsed by the United Nations, calls for elections to be held by end-January. Iraq's Electoral Commission says changing the date is a political decision that would require wide consultation.