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BAGHDAD : Interior Minister Falah Naquib announced a tough package of security measures Saturday that will effectively seal Iraq off from the outside world for landmark January 30 elections.
Naquib said the government would shut down Baghdad airport, ban all vehicle traffic and expand a curfew in some cities to help Iraqi and US-led security forces in their efforts to stop insurgents creating a polling day bloodbath.
"We do expect an escalation by these terrorist forces," the minister said.
"There are many attempts to incite the violence. We will do our best to
protect the civilians."
Naquib acknowledged that no plan could be watertight in the face of determined efforts by militant groups who have vowed to sabotage the polls with deadly violence.
"We cannot guarantee the security plan will be 100 percent effective but we hope that it will play a great role and we have spared no effort in trying to make the election safe."
Naqib said Baghdad airport would be closed from the day before the election.
The government has already announced a three-day closure of Iraq's land borders from January 29.
A two-day public holiday is to begin the same day and Naqib said the government would use its emergency powers to extend curfews already in place in some Iraqi cities.
"A curfew would be imposed in many parts of the country during that holiday," he said.
"It will be extended from 8 pm till 6 am. All citizens have to comply during that curfew period."
Naquib said that voters should expect to walk to the polls as all vehicles would be banned on election day and there would be some restrictions on traffic in the run-up.
"During the elections day, movement of vehicles will be totally prohibited," he said, adding that some public transport might nonetheless be laid on to help voters get to polling stations.
The minister denied rumours that Iraq's three public mobile phone networks would be closed on polling day amid fears of the use of phones to detonate bombs.
Naqib said that the government had issued arrest warrants for 10 men he identified as enemies of the state.
He said 11 militants had also been detained in the main northern city of Mosul on suspicion of involvement in beheadings.
A further 12 suspects had been arrested on suspicion of involvement in car bombings and other attacks.
Naqib said the 10 most wanted fugitives included Saddam Hussein's number two Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri as well as Al-Qaeda's Iraq frontman Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who already has a 25-million- dollar bounty on his head.
Others included Saddam's half-brother Sabawi Ibrahim Hassan and Mohamed Yunis al-Ahmed, a former Saddam aide now suspected of helping direct the insurgency from neighbouring Syria.
Naquib added that more security measures would be announced in the run-up to the election.
Voters are to elect a 275-member transitional national assembly, as well as 18 provincial councils and a Kurdish regional parliament.
Iraqi and US officials have expressed fears that a threatened boycott by members of the former Sunni Arab elite, which dominated Saddam's regime and all previous Iraqi governments, will be fanned by the threat of violence from Sunni insurgents. - AFP
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