Wednesday 05 January 2005, 18:06 Makka Time, 15:06 GMT
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said that "The government is committed to running the elections on schedule" and "We will not allow violence and terrorists to stop the political process... We know some Iraqis fear voting but we have to overcome those fears."
But the last 24 hours have been more drammatic than ever in Iraq:
At least 48 people (including civillians) died in ambushes and car bombs attacks.
Some hours after the Hilla's attack, in the town of Baquba (north of Baghdad), another suicide car bomber killed six people at a checkpoint defended by the National Guard and US forces.
In the same area during the night, three US contractors died in a gun battle.
A member of the Electoral Commission Staff, Khalifa Hussein, was killed along with his driver in an ambush carried out by the rebels yesterday.
In Mosul, the sunni politician Omar Mahmoud Abdallah was shot dead.
In Samarra, another roadside bomb killed six Iraqi National Guardsmen patrolling the area.
Other rebels ambushed and gunned down four US contractors, in the same city.
According to the police, another contractor was assassinated in the sorroundings of Balad and
an interpreter for the US was killed near Tuz.
The Geneva-based International Organisation for Migration (IOM) reported that there are at least 150.000 Iraqis ready to vote in Great Britain and another 250.000 in Syria, added to the 230.000 in the United States. Elsewhere, there should be a total of 1 milion people to vote for the creation of a Transitional National Assembly on January 30.
Iraqi President Ghazi Al Yawar, the government's senior Sunni official, is doubtful about having elections by the end of this month, in contrast with the Prime Minister Allawi.
Il Romanaccio at 10:01 AM
