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Iraqi election workers targets for insurgents
Insurgents have begun targeting Iraqi election workers in an apparent attempt to derail the March parliamentary vote, Iraqi officials said, prompting electoral authorities to restrict the movement of their employees and shelter some at a hotel in the Green Zone.
An election worker was killed in front of his Baghdad home last week, and a worker and the wife and son of another were kidnapped in the past 10 days, according to Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission.
"It is not a coincidence to have three attacks against our employees," Haidari said. "Our situation is a tragedy. You can see the worry and mental anxiety on the faces of my employees."
Iraqi officials described the attacks as the latest attempt by the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq to destabilize the government ahead of the elections, scheduled for March 7. U.S. officials hope the elections, which were delayed by nearly two months as a result of political wrangling, will lead to a smooth transition of power and that they will be able to sharply accelerate the withdrawal of troops.