Iraqi election workers targets for insurgents

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By Michael Hastings
Monday, December 21, 2009; A10

BAGHDAD -- Insurgents have begun targeting Iraqi election workers in an apparent attempt to derail the March parliamentary vote, Iraqi officials said, prompting electoral authorities to restrict the movement of their employees and shelter some at a hotel in the Green Zone.

An election worker was killed in front of his Baghdad home last week, and a worker and the wife and son of another were kidnapped in the past 10 days, according to Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission.

"It is not a coincidence to have three attacks against our employees," Haidari said. "Our situation is a tragedy. You can see the worry and mental anxiety on the faces of my employees."

Iraqi officials described the attacks as the latest attempt by the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq to destabilize the government ahead of the elections, scheduled for March 7. U.S. officials hope the elections, which were delayed by nearly two months as a result of political wrangling, will lead to a smooth transition of power and that they will be able to sharply accelerate the withdrawal of troops.

The targeted violence has forced the electoral commission to increase security measures for staff members, of which there are about 500 in Baghdad alone, including limiting their movement during the day and advising their families to relocate until after the elections.

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The commission has requested that the Iraqi government allow it to house workers at Saddam Hussein's old Republican Palace, formerly home to the U.S. Embassy but now vacant. Rooms for higher-ranking officials have been secured at the Rasheed Hotel, a well-protected building in the fortified Green Zone where many Iraqi parliament members and foreign visitors stay.

Haidari said he has discussed the security issue with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani. "We have asked for more security guards," he said. "We are trying to give our employees better protection. We insist to continue our work."

The run-up to the election has been punctuated by bombings that have shaken the confidence of the Iraqi government and have killed more than 400.

Though it is unclear exactly who is responsible for the killing and kidnappings, Iraqi officials say they think al-Qaeda in Iraq and insurgent groups affiliated with the former Baath Party are behind the violence.

The Islamic State of Iraq, an extremist umbrella group, has asserted responsibility for the deadly bombings of government buildings in August, October and, most recently, Dec. 8.

The violence against election workers fits into the insurgents' larger strategy to undermine and destabilize the Iraqi government.

"The electoral process is an important target to the insurgents, because if they break it they will break all the political process in Iraq," Haidari said. "I think all the enemies of democracy in Iraq are behind the bombings, including al-Qaeda."

The details of the election worker's killing indicate a well-coordinated assassination.

Ali Mahmoud, 30, who had worked with the commission for five years, returned home from a friend's wedding last Thursday evening around 7:30 pm. He parked his car in front of his house in Jadriya, considered one of the safest neighborhoods in Baghdad.

An unknown assailant or assailants approached the car and fired two bullets from a gun with a silencer, according to friends of Mahmoud and other election officials. One bullet struck above his nose, another on the left side of his forehead.

The killing, along with the kidnapping of an election worker in Kirkuk 10 days ago and the kidnapping of another election worker's wife and son last week in Baghdad, has had a chilling effect on the commission's work, according to interviews with several people on the commission.

"We are all under threat of assassination," an election official said, requesting anonymity for fear of retribution. "We have a job to do and it will get worse as the election gets closer." Added another worker: "We are worried more than you can imagine."

Hastings is a freelance journalist based in Baghdad. Special correspondent Qais Mizher contributed to this report.

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