SE city eager to vote in elections

NASARIYAH, Iraq — People are eager to vote in this Shi’ite Muslim city located more than 200 miles from the turmoil of Baghdad and adjoining Sunni Muslim strongholds, say local officials who boast of success keeping violence to a minimum by working with tribal, religious and political leaders.

In the city’s police-run operations room, blue lines cut across large hanging maps of this ancient city, dividing it into areas that Iraqi police and multinational forces will protect during the Jan. 30 elections.

“We have made a security plan with the cooperation of the police, the Iraqi national guard, and the multinational forces,” said Col. Habib Kadhum, a former member of Saddam’s military who now heads Nasariyah’s Facility Protection Service (FPS).

“I feel more confident than before,” Col. Kadhum said, speaking to reporters in a spartan building protected by rows of dirt-filled bags and barbed wire that houses the FPS, a branch of the Iraqi police charged with securing the polling stations for the upcoming vote.

Nasariyah sits some 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, across date groves, tilled green fields dotted with small herds of sheep and camels, the occasional Bedouin tent, and miles of desert sand.

A Shi’ite stronghold, the city led a revolt against Saddam in 1991 that was quickly and brutally crushed.

Italian troops stationed in this area have been training the FPS forces in anti-riot operations, how to check personnel, and how to react if there are any terrorist attacks such as car bombs and suicide bombings.

“Everything is organized,” Col. Kadhum said.

A number of violent attacks over the past weekend appeared to be aimed at upsetting the level of Shi’ite confidence in the south, which includes provinces that the United States has said are safe enough for elections to be held.

Ali al-Dujaidi, a 36-year-old Shi’ite and Communist Party supporter, was keen on the elections.

But he did not feel the ballot significantly would change the political structure set up through the Iraqi interim government that took power just over six months ago.

“I think we are living an illusion. Anyone can create a problem if he wants,” he said. “Nothing much has changed. It is the same people, same political parties, same thoughts.”

Italian Gen. Giovan Battista Borrini, who heads the Italian area of operations in southern Iraq, said the region had fewer Saddam followers and, therefore, less violence than hot spots like Mosul, Baghdad, Fallujah and Baquba.

“Our approach has been very soft and friendly from the beginning,” he said. “We have tried to give the image of ourselves as helpers. Our way of doing things has been very helpful.”

But out in the street, coalition forces and foreign reporters and photographers still can travel only with heavily armed guards and a military escort.

Story Continues →