NAJAF (AFP) — Revered Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani on Wednesday urged Iraqis to register so they can vote in provincial elections planned to be held by early next year.
"Ali Sistani has called on Iraqis to register their names as the (electoral) list is regarded as an important document by the United Nations," an official from the cleric's office in the central holy city of Najaf said.
"With this document we can comply with international rules."
The provincial elections, considered crucial to stabilising the country, were originally scheduled for October 1, but are now expected to be postponed to early 2009 because parliament has yet to pass the election law.
Sistani's appeal comes on the eve of the final day for potential voters to register.
According to the UN, nearly 1.8 million new voters have registered this year in Iraq, mainly in the Sunni regions of Salaheddin, Nineveh, Anbar and in the Shiite province of Muthanna.
In 2005 the Sunni Arab community generally did not vote in parliamentary and provincial elections because of threats from insurgent groups. Nearly 8.5 million people, or 60 percent of the eligible electorate, voted in 2005.
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