90 killed as Iraq gears up for Charter vote
Foreign Desk Report

BAGHDAD—Ninety insurgents have been killed in a series of US-led sweeps in western Iraq since they kicked off on September 28, government spokesman Leith Kubba revealed. “The total from the operations is 90 killed while the number of arrests has reached 178,” Kubba told journalists, adding that the offensives had “perturbed armed groups’ activity and (helped) obtain information that will help us track down their members”.
The US military said the operations, including Iron Fist which ended near the Syrian border on Thursday, were aimed at thwarting Al-Qaeda-linked militant activity in the restive and largely Sunni Arab province of Al-Anbar. Thirteen US troops have been reported killed in the province since the start of the operations. Kubba said that US and Iraqi forces would stay in the area for the October 15 referendum on the country’s new constitution and that 700 independent electoral commission workers would also be deployed in the province.
Sunni Arab groups called Saturday for their voters to defeat the constitution by any legitimate means, including by boycott or a “no” vote, believing the new basic law will lead to the country’s break-up. “No call for boycott has worked,” said Kubba. “The most important thing is for Iraqis to take part by voting ‘yes’ or ‘no.’” The government on Sunday urged Iraqis to vote in next week’s constitutional referendum, condemning insurgent groups for demanding a boycott and for killing hundreds of civilians to wreck the ballot.
The U.S. military also announced the death of another Marine during one of two offensives currently occuring in western Iraq aimed at rooting out insurgents from ahead of Saturday’s vote. The Marine was killed by a roadside bomb in Ramadi, where about 500 U.S. and 400 Iraqi troops were conducting Operation Mountaineer, the military said. Sunni-led insurgent groups are trying to reduce voter turnout with a wave of attacks, killing at least 312 people in suicide bombings, drive-by shootings and assassinations. “These insurgents are like rats spreading plague among the people,” said Laith Kubba, the main Iraqi government spokesman. “Rats are very small, but the disease they spread is horrible. Iraq should be rid of these dirty rats.” The referendum has divided Iraqis, with leaders of the Shiite Muslim majority and Kurds supporting the constitution and Sunni Arabs opposing it, saying it will fragment Iraq.
The Iraqi and U.S. governments are working hard to get the measure approved, but Kubba said even minority Sunni Arabs who oppose the document should take advantage of democratic reforms and vote “no”. Sunnis can defeat the charter with a two-thirds “no” vote in any three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. The Sunnis have a majority in four provinces. Iraqis have begun distributing 5 million copies of the constitution ahead of the vote, often leaving them at shops that act as ration centers where most Iraqis get government-subsidized food. But some were refusing to participate, fearing attacks by insurgents. In Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, police and soldiers left copies of the constitution at schools and bus stations Sunday, said provincial government official Hafiz Abdel-Aziz. “We decided not to distribute them through food ration agents for security reasons,” he told. The same fears were prompting officials to distribute tens of thousands of copies of the document at schools, mosques and government buildings in the northern province of Kirkuk.