IRAQ: Sectarian tension ahead of polls threatens "humanitarian crisis" - analysts

A government move to exclude a number of prominent Sunni candidates from national parliamentary elections on 7 March could re-ignite sectarian violence and create a new humanitarian crisis in the war-torn country, according to some analysts. "Iraq is on the verge of another humanitarian crisis if the current political situation continues to worsen between the political parties or between Sunnis and Shia over participation in the coming elections," Mohammed Abdul-Aziz Jassim, a political sciences lecturer at the University of Anbar, told IRIN. "Almost all Iraq's humanitarian challenges since 2003 [when the US-led invasion began], such as displacement, poor public services and social problems, are the result of the political and sectarian strife that led to a deteriorated security situation," he said.