Top Sunni Party Among 79 Blocs to Contest Iraq Poll

[Khephra]

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Muslim party, which had threatened to boycott Iraq's first free election on Jan. 30, is among 79 parties and blocs that have registered lists for the poll, election officials said.

The move ensures the Iraqi Islamic Party, flagbearer for the long dominant Sunni Arab minority, will appear on ballot papers, but a senior official said it may still choose not to campaign.

Seventy political parties have registered their own slates of candidates for the poll and nine coalition lists have also been presented, among them a powerful joint list headed by leading figures from the long-oppressed Shi'ite majority, a spokesman for Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission said.

Parties and blocs have until Wednesday, Dec. 15, to register their lists for the poll, in which Iraqis will elect a 275-seat National Assembly charged with drafting a constitution and appointing a new government.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq-election.html