Free Republic

Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar is expecting up to two-thirds of eligible Iraqis to vote in Sunday's election, after earlier appearing to suggest that most would not cast their ballots. "I expect a majority, up to two-thirds of eligible Iraqis, to vote," said Yawar, a Sunni Arab. "Of the people who will not vote, the majority of them are scared of violence." In his earlier comments, Yawar said most Iraqis would not vote because they were frightened off by violence. He later said he meant that among Iraqis who would not vote, most would not participate due to fears of violence...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's interim president told George W. Bush at the White House Monday that the ``armies of darkness'' would not stop Iraqis voting next month, even though there is no let up in insurgents' efforts to wreck the election. The U.S. president renewed his vow, backed by an increase in American troop numbers in Iraq, to see the Jan. 30 vote succeed in the face of violence and discontent coming mainly from the Sunni Arab minority which dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Bush urged Iraqis to brave the violence and cast a ballot. ``The capacity of these killers...

A series of truces agreed on last month, encompassing Mr Sadr's stronghold in al-Thoura, Baghdad's eastern slum, as well as the Shia holy cities and other towns further south, are still holding. His own home turf in the capital has been more peaceful than it has been for months. Former fighters are now being paid to collect rubbish, plant trees, direct traffic and help the Iraqi police. The new government has promised to pay for a new sewage system so that the slum detritus will no longer flow past Baghdad's grimmest tenements. Outside the city, the clergy behind Mr...