IRAQ CRISIS: Weekly round-up Number 92 for 11-17 December

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Key Humanitarian Developments

As registration of candidates for Iraq's 30 January election came to a close this week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and United States Secretary of State Colin Powell met in Washington on Thursday for talks on preparations for the polls next month and UN assistance in the process.

Following the meeting, the Secretary-General said the UN would place staff in Iraq it deemed necessary. "It's not a question of numbers. It's a question of what you need to get the job done," Annan said, who also met today with US National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

There are at present 220 people in Baghdad serving with the UN Assistance Mission for (UNAMI). Of this figure 157 Fijian guards are providing security for UN premises and personnel and 64 international staff, up from a previous ceiling of 59. An additional 70 UNAMI international staff are based in Amman, Jordan, and in Kuwait.

About 50 international electoral experts from the UN, European Union and other organisations operating under UN coordination are part of the teams inside and outside the country.

The UN has helped to train 6,000 elections workers, opened 450 voter registration centres and recruited and trained up to 130,000 poll workers in preparation for the elections. Latest figures show 237 political parties have registered - with none rejected so far, translating to more than 11,000 candidates running for the polls to elect a 275- member transitional national assembly

Under registration rules, political parties submitted lists of candidates and every third name had to be a woman's. Candidates have to be aged at least 30. Parties or groups with militias cannot run for election. Nor can former senior Baathists or current members of the armed forces.

The seats will be allocated by exact proportional representation which means that each party or grouping will get the same proportion of seats in the assembly as it gets for its list in the popular vote.

There was continuing violence in Iraq this week with the death of the director-general of the communication ministry. Kassim Imhawi was hit by gunmen who shot him as he travelled into the city from a western suburb. As director-general of the ministry, Imhawi was also a senior adviser to the interim Iraqi government.

The assassination comes only days after interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi warned that insurgents were expected to increase attacks ahead of elections in January.

Meanwhile, with news of the imminent trials of Saddam Hussein's top aides, the former leader has had his first meeting with a member of his defence team since he was captured just over a year ago.

The meeting took place in an undisclosed location in Baghdad, the BBC reported. An additional 11 of Saddam's aides are in US custody awaiting trial on war crimes and genocide by an Iraqi tribunal.

Ali Hassan al-Majid, widely known as "Chemical Ali" is said to be the most likely person to first stand trial - as soon as next week. Defence lawyers say they believe the former Iraqi leader's trial would not begin for at least two years. It is believed that the proceedings would not amount to more than preliminary hearings.

As fighting the besieged city of Fallujah eases, the mayor of the city, some 60 km west of Baghdad, said residents who fled, over a month ago, could soon start returning to some parts as early as Friday, a Reuters report said.

"US forces will allow families to return to the Andalous area starting today under a 10-day timetable," Mahmoud Ibrahim said, referring to a neighbourhood in the southwest of Fallujah.

More than 200,000 people fled the city, when US forces started an offensive to flush out insurgents and had prevented displaced people from returning, saying basic facilities must be restored first, the report said.

In an effort to boost education for millions of Iraqi children, four containers of laboratory equipment, along with supplies of up-to-date reference and textbooks is being delivered to the country under a joint UN programme.

The equipment totalling $4.6 is for medical and related areas as well as for engineering and $1 million worth of textbooks has been sent. The consignment was organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Fund for Higher Education in Iraq initiated by Qatari First Lady Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al-Misnad.

“Iraq’s universities and technical institutes are in a dramatic situation,” UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura said.

“Some 24 years of conflict and unrest - first with Iran in the 1980s and then with the Gulf wars and the situation that has followed - have seen tens of thousands of young Iraqis killed, the exodus of many intellectuals and the virtual isolation of those who remained,” he added.

Despite the difficulties, nearly 240,000 students, or 83 per cent of students, returned to classes in 2003, reflecting the tradition of pursuing higher education in Iraq, which once boasted the best universities and technical institutes in the Arab region.

CONTENTS:

IRAQ: Red Cross monitoring hunger strikers ahead of trials
IRAQ: Interview with Minister of Agriculture
IRAQ: New commission looking into endemic corruption
IRAQ: Interview with UNDP head
IRAQ: Iraqis queue at petrol stations as fuel crisis continues
IRAQ: Interview with head of new NGO ministry
IRAQ: Key emergency service to get much-needed improvements
IRAQ-JORDAN: Human rights NGOs in dire need of support
IRAQ-JORDAN: IOM launches expatriate voter operation in 14 countries
YEMEN: Arab women demand participation in political process
SYRIA: Orphans benefit from Japanese grant

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