Violence follows 'Zarqawi tape'

Iraq’s most feared terror chief declared a “fierce war” on democracy in a new audio recording posted on the internet today, as insurgents attacked another polling station to be used in next weekend’s landmark elections.

Rebels who have promised to disrupt the January 30 vote also raided a police station in the western city of Ramadi, ordering officers out of the building and seizing their weapons, police Lieutenant Omar al-Duleimi said.

US-trained security forces have been frequent targets of rebel attacks.

US and Iraqi officials fear a spike in bloodshed and have announced massive security measures to protect voters from possible insurgent attacks during the elections. Voters will chose a 275-seat National Assembly and provincial councils in Iraq’s 18 provinces.

In the latest audio recording purportedly from the leader of Iraq’s al-Qaida affiliate, a speaker identifying himself as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi called candidates running in the elections “demi-idols” and said those who vote for them ”are infidels”.

“We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology,” the speaker said.

“Anyone who tries to help set up this system is part of it.” – a clear warning to both candidates and those who choose to vote.

The speaker warned Iraqis to be careful of “the enemy’s plan to implement so-called democracy in your country”.

He said the Americans have engineered the election to install the country’s Shiite Muslims in power.

The insurgency in Iraq is largely fought by extremists from the Sunni Arab minority, a community that lost influence and privilege with the fall of their patron Saddam Hussein.

The election has further split the rival religious communities, with Shiites embracing the vote as a chance to cement their new power and many Sunnis calling for a boycott of the vote to protest US military action in Sunni areas like Fallujah.

“Four million Shiites were brought from Iran to take part in the elections to achieve their aim of winning” most of the positions, the speaker said.

He said democracy was based on un-Islamic beliefs and behaviours such as freedom of religion, rule of the people, freedom of expression, separation of religion and state, forming political parties and majority rule.

The tape surfaced as rumours spread in Iraq that al-Zarqawi had been captured.

Yesterday Iraqi Interior Minister Falah al-Naqib refused to comment on the rumours at a news conference. “Let’s see. Maybe in the next few days we will make a comment about it,” he said.

Today armed men blew up a designated polling station near Hillah south of Baghdad, Iraqi police Captain Hatif Hadi said.

No injuries were reported. Insurgents have targeted several schools and other buildings to be used as voting sites with gunfire and rockets in recent days.

Iraq’s electoral commission said nearly 190,000 Iraqi expatriates had registered to vote from abroad. The highest number, about 41,000, signed up in Iran.

That’s a fraction of the estimated 1.2 million Iraqis living abroad who are eligible to cast votes.

Niurka Pineiro, an official of the International Organisation for Migration, which is handling the vote in 14 countries, said yesterday that some people were scared that “when they go to these polling places some sort of mayhem may break out”.

The agency extended the deadline for registration by two days – until Tuesday - to allow more Iraqi exiles to register.

Iraq’s interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said it was too early to talk about a withdrawal of US-led forces.

“The terrorists and the evil forces are trying to break our will. They are trying to stop democracy from happening in Iraq,” Allawi said in an interview on the BBC.

Allawi said Iraqis ultimately want to see their own forces tackle the country’s security problems.

“But it is too premature to talk about withdrawal (of multinational forces),” he said.