Iraq Notebook
No. 2 State Dept. official gives second view on Iraq vote

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reiterated yesterday his comments to a Senate committee Thursday — that some areas of Iraq may be inaccessible to voting.

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"We're going to have an election that is free and open and that has to be open to all citizens. It's got to be our best effort to get it into troubled areas as well," Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a House committee after being asked about Rumsfeld's words.

Armitage told reporters after the hearing that: "We absolutely want to hold them in all parts of Iraq." Asked if partial elections were under consideration, he said: "No. Not now. Not that I know of."

Rumsfeld had first said Thursday — and reiterated in a meeting with reporters yesterday before Armitage spoke — that he believes the elections should go ahead. But Rumsfeld again acknowledged that some areas may be inaccessible to voting. On Thursday, he told a Senate committee that Iraqis may "have an election that's not quite perfect. Is it better than not having an election? You bet."

Later yesterday, Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, insisted that elections will be held by January and "all eligible Iraqis will be able to vote."

Allawi, speaking to reporters after addressing the U.N. General Assembly, said there would be "no partial elections" and "every eligible Iraqi will be able to vote."

When asked about the different positions of the U.S. officials, he said, "This is hypothetical, we are talking about an election in January. We are now still in September ... by January I would hope that everything is settled."

U.S. official disputes talk of early trial for Saddam

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The trials of former President Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants likely will not begin this year, a U.S. official here said yesterday, contradicting a recent pronouncement from Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, that the trials could commence as soon as next month.

Allawi has sought to speed up the trials by exhorting judges and investigators to accelerate their work and by replacing the administrator of the special tribunal that will conduct the trials.

"These are very difficult trials," said the U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "These are command-responsibility cases. ... You have to follow the chain of command up."
 

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Gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying Iraqi National Guard applicants in Baghdad today, killing six people, police said. The group had just left a national guard recruiting center where they had signed up to join the force in the west Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Jamiyah when the attack occurred, said police Lt. Omar Ahmed.

Three more members of an elite Navy SEAL unit have been charged with abusing Iraqi prisoners, one of whom died in custody after he was beaten, the Naval Special Warfare Command said yesterday. Four were charged previously.

Former chief arms inspectors David Kay and Hans Blix are questioning the continued detention of a dozen Iraqi weapons scientists by U.S. forces more than a year after the prisoners first told interrogators Iraq had no outlawed weapons — a story that turned out to be true. "What are the accusations?" ex-U.N. inspector Blix asked in an interview yesterday, referring to one leading Iraqi prisoner, Amer al-Saadi. Kay, former head U.S. arms hunter, said, "I saw no reason to hold them" even nine months ago.

"For lack of evidence," a judge has dismissed counterfeiting charges against Ahmad Chalabi, a senior political figure once considered a front-runner to become Iraq's leader, authorities said yesterday.