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Insurgents vowing to kill iraqis who brave the polls { January 26 2005 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/international/middleeast/26iraq.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/international/middleeast/26iraq.html
January 26, 2005
CAMPAIGN
Insurgents Vowing to Kill Iraqis Who Brave the Polls on Sunday
By DEXTER FILKINS
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Jan. 25 - The black sedan made its way down Madaris Street, the young men inside tossing leaflets out the window.
"This is a final warning to all of those who plan to participate in the election," the leaflets said. "We vow to wash the streets of Baghdad with the voters' blood."
Thus was the war over Sunday's nationwide elections crystallized in a single incident on Tuesday in Mashtal, an ethnically mixed neighborhood on the eastern edge of Baghdad, where many Iraqis say they would like to vote, and where a small, determined group of people are doing everything they can to stop them.
The leaflets, like many turning up on sidewalks and doorsteps across the capital, were chilling in their detail: they warned Iraqis to stay at least 500 yards away from voting booths, for each would be the potential target of a rocket, mortar shell or car bomb. The leaflet suggested that Iraqis stay away from their windows, too, in case of blasts.
"To those of you who think you can vote and then run away," the leaflet warned, "we will shadow you and catch you, and we will cut off your heads and the heads of your children."
The effect of such intimidation across the country will not be known until Sunday. Estimates vary, but Iraqi officials say they will be pleased if the nationwide turnout reaches 50 percent of the 14 million eligible voters. In some areas, like the Sunni-dominant cities of Ramadi and Falluja, even a meager turnout would be welcomed.
In Madaris Street, the men in the black sedan got a hostile reception: Iraqi police officers spotted the car and opened fire, killing two of the men, residents said. The rest got away, after killing three officers.
Guerrilla groups have vowed to step up attacks to disrupt the voting.
On Tuesday, in Al Jededa, in southeast Baghdad, gunmen shot and killed Qais Hashem al-Shamari, a senior judge in the Justice Ministry, as he drove to work, and wounded one of the judge's guards. Ansar al-Sunna, one of the most active insurgent groups, took responsibility for the attack in an Internet posting, claiming that the murder of Judge Shamari "would make God and the Prophet very content."
"Our heroes ambushed one of the heads of infidelity and apostasy in the new Iraqi government," the statement said.
Among the operations Ansar al-Sunna has claimed responsibility for is the suicide bombing last month of a mess tent in Mosul that killed 21 people, including 18 Americans, and wounded 69 others.
American commanders and Iraqi officials say they are preparing for a surge in attacks leading up to election day. Some are predicting that the worst of the attacks could happen before Sunday, when streets around the country will be closed to almost all vehicular traffic and an 8 p.m. curfew will go into effect.
On Tuesday the Islamic Army of Iraq, another insurgent group, called on its followers to unleash attacks to disrupt the elections. "O brave mujahedeen! O lions! O people of zeal! Go and fight and God will be with you," the group said in an Internet posting.
On Tuesday, a total of 11 Iraqi police officers were killed and 9 were wounded in clashes around Baghdad, hospital officials said. One unfolded on Madaris Street, less than three hours before the black sedan came, when a bomb exploded in a school that was designated one of the capital's 1,200 polling sites. Schools will serve as polling sites across the country. American soldiers also found and defused a bomb near a primary school in western Baghdad.
On Madaris Street, the leaflets themselves landed to uncertain effect. Residents said they did not support the guerrillas, but some said they were terrified at the violence that election day might bring.
"I want to vote," said Khalidayah Lazem, a 40-year-old Sunni, standing outside her home. "But as you can see, the situation is getting worse. We see these leaflets every day."
Most of the Iraqis interviewed expressed disapproval for the insurgents. They said the men in the black sedan, for instance, had come from outside the neighborhood. And while some, like Ms. Lazem, were clearly frightened, others said they planned to vote, whatever the price.
"We are not afraid of these leaflets," said Mohammed Adel, 24. "I must go to the polling center to vote. I want security and stability for my country."
A spokesman for Iraq's Electoral Commission said Tuesday that results would probably be known about 10 days after election day.
In other aspects of the insurgency, an American taken hostage in November appeared on a videotape and pleaded for his life, according to news agencies. The American, Roy Hallums, who was kidnapped during an assault on his compound in the Monsour district, sat cross-legged in front of a dark background, rubbing his hands, according to The Associated Press and Reuters. As he spoke, the barrel of an assault rifle hovered inches from his head. The tape is the first to have surfaced of Mr. Hallums since he and five colleagues at a Saudi Arabian food contractor were taken from their compound on Nov. 1. Four have been freed; Robert Tarongoy of the Philippines, is still missing.
In the tape, Mr. Hallums appealed to Arab leaders, including Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya, to help save him. "I have been arrested by a resistance group in Iraq," Mr. Hallums said. "I am asking for help because my life is in danger, because it has been proved that I work for American forces."
The American military also said six soldiers were killed Monday in separate incidents in and around Baghdad. Five soldiers with the Army's First Infantry Division were killed Monday night when a Bradley armored personnel carrier rolled into a canal during a sandstorm near Khan Bani Saad, northeast of the capital, the military said. Another soldier died from wounds from a roadside bomb.
Also Tuesday, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi refused to set a date or a timetable for the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. Dr. Allawi is running for the national assembly and is a possible candidate for prime minister. Some candidates have suggested that if they were elected, they would set a timetable for the pullout of American forces.
"Others spoke about the immediate withdrawal or setting a timetable for the withdrawal of multinational forces," Dr. Allawi told reporters. "I will not deal with the security matter under political pretexts and exaggerations that do not serve Iraq and its people."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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