Iraqi forces to undertake protection of ballots – official

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The security plan to protect the voting process will be undertaken by Iraqi forces while the Multi-National Force (MNF)’s role will be confined to logistical support, a senior security official said on Thursday. “The plan, hammered out by the interior and defense ministries, the National Security Department and the Intelligence Agency, to protect the voters will be carried out by Iraqi forces with logistical support from the MNF,” Brig. Ali al-Juburi, a member of the security committee assigned to protect the forthcoming provincial council election process, said in a press conference in Baghdad attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The plan, to be announced on Monday (Jan. 12), would cover all areas as 55 ballot stations will allow the accession of the mass media cameras via special badges,” said Juburi. The provincial council elections are scheduled to be held on January 31 in 14 out of the country’s 18 provinces as no elections will be held in Kirkuk and the three autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region’s provinces of Arbil, Duhuk and Sulaimaniya. AmR (P) 1