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12/27/2004:

"Iraq Rejects U.S. Talk of Adjusting Vote Result"

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's election body rejected a suggestion in Washington it adjust the results of next month's vote to benefit the Sunni minority if low turnout in Sunni areas means Shi'ites win an exaggerated majority in the new assembly.

Speaking of ``unacceptable'' interference, Electoral Commission spokesman Farid Ayar said: ``Who wins, wins. That is the way it is. That is the way it will be in the election.''

U.S. diplomats in Baghdad, at pains to keep their role in the election discreet, declined comment on a New York Times report from Washington which said Sunnis might be granted extra seats if the community's vote was judged to have been too low.
Full Article: nytimes/reuters