Care of Saddam's half brother undecided

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's prime minister agreed with the Iraqi president Monday that Saddam Hussein's half brother deserves proper medical care while on trial with the former dictator, but he did not say if he supported moving the defendant out of jail.

The chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's trial, meanwhile, said Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari does not have the legal power to order that Barazan Ibrahim be moved to a hospital for treatment of spinal cancer.

Prosecutor Jaafar al-Mousawi's comment came a day after President Jalal Talabani posted a letter on the Iraqi presidency's Web site urging the prime minister to "use his powers" to ensure Ibrahim is put in a hospital.

Ibrahim asked last week to be released from detention so he could get better treatment.

He and seven other defendants, including Saddam, are on trial for the 1982 massacre of nearly 150 Shiite Muslims in Dujail after a failed attempt on Saddam's life. After a one-day session Oct. 19, the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Court recessed the trial until Nov. 28. Ibrahim was Saddam's intelligence chief at the time of the Dujail massacre.

Expatriate vote plans in doubt

BAGHDAD — Plans to allow up to a million Iraqis living abroad to vote in a Dec. 15 parliamentary election are in doubt because of a lack of time and money, Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said on Monday.

With rival blocs battling for a share of a total electorate of about 15 million, much could turn on votes from expatriates, many forced into exile under Saddam Hussein or driven abroad by violence.

Jaafari said United Nations officials had advised the government of difficulties in arranging for Iraqis living abroad to vote, despite the fact that Iraq's new electoral law includes provisions for out-of-country voting.

During the January election, about 265,000 of 1 million eligible Iraqis living abroad cast their vote in 14 countries, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Iraq has some 15 million registered voters, of whom about 10 million voted in the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum.

Iraq admits its troops aren't ready

UNITED NATIONS — Iraq asked the U.N. Security Council on Monday to let a U.S.-led multinational force remain in Iraq for another year, acknowledging its own troops could not yet assure national security.

The request came in a letter to the 15-nation council from Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari.

The multinational force's mandate expires at the end of this year, under a resolution approved by the council in June 2004, when the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority turned over Iraq's administration to an interim government.

Extending the mandate through the end of 2006 will require the council to adopt a new resolution in the next two months.

Jaafari said the government in Baghdad wanted the right to terminate the mandate before the end of 2006.

He also asked the council to agree to review the new mandate eight months after its approval or at any other time if asked to do so by Baghdad.

Compiled from The Associated Press and Reuters