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Iraqi Sunni Alliance Praises Election Success

17 December 2005 -- Adnan al-Dulaymi, leader of one of the Sunni Arab parties in the largely Sunni Iraqi Accordance Front, told a news conference in Baghdad today that the 15 December parliamentary elections were a success.

"The election process succeeded and this is something great regardless of our success or defeat or the success of this alliance or that. The election process succeeded and thank God there was no violence as you hear that elections all over the world are marred by violence or death. But thank God here there were only two or three cases and this is nothing in a country where there is chaos, violence and death," Al-Dulaymi told reporters.

Al-Dulaymi also thanked insurgents who "committed themselves not to attack but to protect voting centers."

Al-Dulaymi also predicted that Shi'ite religious parties would not be able to form a government without including a coalition of Sunni, secular Shi'ite, and Kurdish groups.

U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and top U.S. commander General George Casey released a joint statement congratulating Iraqis on holding a successful election and saying that "the people of Iraq have chosen to become active participants in their country's future."

(AP/Reuters)

Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org