EU Urges Iraq not to Exclude Sunnis

The EU’s Term President and Luxemburg’s Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, said that low Sunni participation in the elections would cause problems for Iraq’s constitutional assembly and that Sunnis should participate in the negotiations on a new constitution. Asselborn said yesterday, "We will try to persuade Iraqi authorities not to exclude the Sunnis when preparing the new constitution." EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said that the Iraq elections are a message to the region. The German government emphasized that all ethnic and religious groups should be included in the political process in Iraq and added that the country may only, in this way, have a stable, peaceful and democratic administration.

In London, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw said that the elections were extraordinarily good when we consider the present conditions in Iraq. He said that if Sunnis participate in the current political process it will be to their advantage. Iran announced that the polls will open channels to establishing security and ending the occupation in Iraq. A Spokesperson for the Iranian government, Abdullah Ramazanzade said that Saddam Hussein supporters are afraid of the election results, but that Iran was not.

Meanwhile, Iraq Election Commission Vice President Haris Mohammed Hasan noted that 60-75 percent of registered voters cast their ballots in the elections. Hasan said that they do not know the final results yet, but said that in most of the 18 provinces of Iraq, the turn out exceeded 50 percent.