An Iraqi woman looks at posters advertising the Jan. 30 parliamentary election.

The move by the Iraqi Islamic Party threatens to deepen the political alienation of the nation's Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the population but were long favored under Saddam Hussein.

Many Sunnis have supported the insurgency and fear that the upcoming ballot will only cement their loss of influence as majority Shiites vote for members of their own sect. Yet Sunni support for and participation in a new government is considered crucial to stabilizing Iraq.

The IIP said it remains committed to the electoral process but violence "that every day moves from bad to worse" across the Sunni heartland north and west of Baghdad makes it necessary to delay the vote for as long as six months.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 8, 2005
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