Top UN envoy deplores murder of three candidates on eve of Iraq polls

The top United Nations envoy to Iraq today strongly condemned the murder of three candidates who were killed while campaigning for the provincial council elections slated for Saturday.

Secretary-General's Special Representative for Iraq Staffan de Mistura called the killing of Hazem Salem Ahmed of Mosul, Omar Faruq al-Ani of Baghdad's Amiriya district and Abbas Farhan of Mandali as “a terrible crime designed to attempt to disrupt the democratic process on the eve of the elections.”

The latest incidents bring to five the number of candidates murdered ahead of the 31 January polls. Haytham al-Husseini, a candidate for the Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) list was killed on 16 January in an armed attack northeast of the city of Hilla in Babel province, which also left four of his companions wounded.

Just two week prior to that, Mowaffaq al-Hamdani, a candidate on the “Iraq for Us” list was shot dead in a café in the northern city of Mosul.

Despite these incidents, Mr. de Mistura was confident in Iraq's resolve for a successful election. “The Iraqi people have overwhelmingly shown their determination for conducting this election fairly and freely, undeterred by isolated intimidating tactics,” he stated.

Both the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) and the UN expressed their confidence in the electoral process and the mechanisms available for conducting the elections in a transparent manner.