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Iraqi Christians Claim Their Votes Blocked

The elections in Iraq were highly successful and silenced many critics who skeptically predicted there would be low voter turn-out. Iraqis momentarily set aside their deep divisions and turned out in numbers that far surpassed predictions and cut across ethnic and sectarian lines [more].

However, there is one group that did have difficulty voting: Christians.

Christian Assyrians, 1 million of whom reside in Iraq, claim that Kurdish officials in North Iraq blocked the delivery of ballot boxes from Assyrian-dominated villages, leaving many Assyrians disenfranchised. They also claim that election officials placed U.S. voting locations in areas that maximized the distance expatriate Assyrians had to travel.

[more]

World Magazine asked Dr. Walid Phares, Professor of Middle East Studies, about this "irregularity":

WORLD: What about reports that Christians, particularly Assyrian Christians, have been disenfranchised and ostracized from the process? There have been specific reports of areas north of Mosul not being allowed to vote and some of the Kurdish leaders are being called warlords over those regions.

WP: There are two versions about what is happening there. The actual political parties that have participated in the process are saying the process may have problems, while the exile community in the United States is casting it another way, saying some of the areas could not get ballots, and that this is not an isolated situation. All elections have problems. And many Assyrians feel within the Kurdish areas that they do have problems. I do think based on the claims that it is not impossible. But if it were serious enough to rise to the level of a national ethnic tragedy, then the Assyrians on the inside would have raised a more vigorous protest.

But this is a question of a few days. When we see the balloting results, then we will know.

However, Christians did and are protesting and some reported problems before the election. A formal complaint will be lodged Wed. by the Assyrian Democratic Party, a Christian political organization.

Posted by tim at February 2, 2005 1:06 AM

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