Intimidation at Iraq’s polls sees victory for pro-Iran groups

London, Dec. 04 – Independent Iraqi observers who are planning to monitor the upcoming December 15 elections in Iraq are resisting travelling to the south of the country for fear of being targeted in assassinations or abductions, according to an Arabic-language website.

The Jordanian website al-Malaf reported on Friday that one of the “rigging methods by the Iranian regime is to create an atmosphere of fear and terror by assassinating the observers”.

The report said that independent Iraqi observers feared assassinations or abductions if they did not cooperate with demands by groups affiliated to Tehran.

“Independent Iraqi observers are not willing to go from one province to the other. Unwillingness by these observers to go to southern Iraq gives the Iranian regime’s elements a free hand to assign their own people as observers and prepare the grounds for rigging”.

The report added that Tehran was preparing to bribe election officials in southern Iraq.