Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has acknowledged that some parts of Iraq will not be able to participate in parliamentary elections on January 30th because of violence.
Speaking in Baghdad, Mr. Allawi said (today/Tuesday) there would be some areas that will not participate, but he did not think it would be widespread.
He also said he has allocated two-point-two billion dollars in this year's budget for increasing the army to 150,000 troops and upgrading its weaponry.
His comments were made against a backdrop of more pre-election attacks. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network claimed responsibility for a car bombing in Tikrit that killed six policemen. And at least nine other people were killed in two other attacks near Baghdad.
Interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says he will more than double the size of Iraq's army to 150,000 troops, in the face of a deadly insurgency that has killed more than 100 Iraqis over the past week alone.
In Baghdad, Mr. Allawi said (today/Tuesday) he has allocated 2.2 billion dollars in this year's budget to expand the army and upgrade its weaponry.
Meanwhile, violence across Iraq continues. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist network claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack in Tikrit that killed six policemen and wounded several others.
In an area known as the "triangle of death" south of Baghdad, a roadside bomb exploded, killing at least seven people in a passing minibus. And two civilians were killed and several wounded in a mortar attack near Abu Ghraib prison, on Baghdad's outskirts.