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27-01-2005 Scotsman Shiites in the south pledge to use their vote By Gethin Chamberlain VOTERS in the south of Iraq appear determined not to be deflected from turning out for Sunday's crucial elections, despite a campaign of intimidation and threats to their lives from extremists determined to wreck the poll. With only three days to go before voting begins, there are signs of a growing popular support for the election, suggesting that turnout may be higher than first predicted. Although only half of the two million people living in the Basra province have registered to vote, there have been some sources of encouragement for the interim Iraqi government and for the multinational forces in the country. A recent upsurge in violence in the south has tailed off again and previously hostile areas such as the town of Al Amarah - where British forces have faced intense opposition over the past 12 months - are relatively calm. Military sources say that the threat from suicide bombers moving south from the area around Baghdad remains very real, and British forces in the south are taking precautions in an attempt to thwart them, but many voters seem genuinely enthused about the opportunity to take part in the ballot. Some have also been prepared to speak out strongly against the terrorist threat. Murtagha Riyadh Attiyah, a policeman at the Shalamacheh border crossing point between Iraq and Iran, spoke angrily about Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the man behind the death threats directed against voters. Drawing his pistol, he made as if to fire it. "Zarqawi," he spat. "We should catch him and shoot him." Mr Attiyah said he was backing the current Iraqi leader, Ayad Allawi: "Allawi is good for security and defence," he said. "We are happier than before - it is better than under Saddam." He said what voters were most concerned about were the basic essentials of life. "We want to be free, we want to work, we want money and we want houses," he said. And in a small farming village outside Basra yesterday, there was more support for the incumbent. Nagee Draub said he intended to vote for Mr Allawi because he was "a good man, and brave". But chatting to British soldiers who had stopped in the village as part of a routine patrol, he highlighted some of the problems facing those hoping to vote on Sunday. Mr Draub, whose car was damaged in a suicide bombing, said there were no polling stations near the village, and he would have to travel to vote. And he outlined some of the challenges that the new government will have to overcome. "Power and water are a problem and there are no jobs," he said. Sergeant Lee Brindle, in charge of the patrol, sent a couple of his men to fetch bottled water from their vehicles.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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