Iraq's electoral blacklist to grow

IRAQ'S electoral commission chief expects more candidates to be blacklisted from parliamentary elections in March because of suspected ties to Saddam Hussein's Sunni-led regime, an issue that has split the highest levels of Iraq's government.

The rising political tensions have alarmed Washington and the White House has dispatched US vice-president Joe Biden to tackle the issue, which Iraq's Shiite- dominated government describes as an internal matter.

Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's government appeared to be backing the body tasked with identifying hardcore supporters of Saddam's outlawed Baath Party yesterday. The development came just a day after president Jalal Talabani questioned whether the accountability and justice committee had the authority to ban candidates.

The names, which could be added to the list as early as today, will include military men who had forged documents and people with criminal records, commission chief Faraj al-Haidari said. The proposed ban has worried US officials, who fear that such a move could lead to an increase in violence ahead of the balloting on 7 March.

A leaked list with more than 500 names thought to be banned by the committee was printed in Iraqi newspapers on Thursday.

Mr Haidari declined to confirm whether that list was authentic or to discuss the number of candidates who could be banned from running, but he said the names include members of Iraq's various sects and ethnic groups. He says the number of Sunnis and Shiites is roughly equal.

"We informed the political parties of the names of those candidates that would be banned, and there are two choices for them: either replace the candidate or appeal to the court," Mr Haidari added.