Iraqi candidates make sure they're not in spotlight

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

BAGHDAD The threat of death hung so heavily over the election rally, held last week on the fifth floor of the General Factory for Vegetable Oil, that the speakers refused to say whether they were candidates at all.
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"Too dangerous," said Hussein Ali, who solicited votes for the United Iraqi Alliance, a party fielding dozens of candidates for the elections. "It's a secret."
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And then Ali and his colleagues left, escorted by men with guns.
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So goes the election campaign unfolding across Iraq, a country simultaneously set to embark on an American-backed political experiment while writhing under a guerrilla insurgency dead set on disrupting the experiment.
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With only two weeks to go before the vote, scheduled for Jan.30, guerrillas have stepped up their attacks and driven most candidates deep indoors. On Saturday, the authorities said they would restrict traffic and set up cordons around polling places on election day.



More: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/16/news/elect.html