"With reference to the 27th October 2004 statement by the Iraqi National Foundation Congress on the 'elections' intended for next year, in which were listed the necessary requirements for it to be free and fair; and due the absence of any positive response from the relevant bodies regarding those objective requirements:

"We declare our boycott of these elections, since it will not express the will of our people and its just demands for independence and sovereignty, through it being conducted on the bases dictated by the order governing the administration of the state in the transition phase, which has been rejected by all political, religious and independent authorities for the grave dangers it implies to the future of Iraq, its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"This and the attacks on Iraqi cities, especially the savage massacres in Falluja, categorically preclude sound participation in the political process under occupation and denial of sovereignty. How can a national dialogue and a political process proceed while crimes are being routinely committed against the people?

"We in the Iraqi National Foundation Congress declare our commitment to the route of free and fair elections when requirements for its realisation are present. Therefore we call on all our people to boycott it and to turn their back on the disinformation aimed at forcing the process, and to defraud the will of our people in Iraq, through legitimating the plans of the occupation authorities and the unelected government."

Issued by: Members of the General Secretariat INFC, General Secretary Sheikh Muhammed Jawad Al-Khalisi, Official Spokesman Dr Wamidh Jamal Nadhmi, Organisation of Muslim Clerics, The Arab Nationalist Current, Imam Khalisi University, Democratic Reform Party, United Patriotic Movement, Iraqi Turkomen Front, Iraqi Christian Democratic Party, The Islamic Block in Iraq, Office of Sayid Ayatullah Ahmad Al-Hasani, Office of Ayatullah Qasim Al-Tai, Union of Iraqi Jurists, High Commission on Human Rights, Iraqi Woman Society


Al Jazeera reports (18 November): "A group of national, political and religious groups in Iraq, including the Association of Muslim Scholars, have decided to boycott the elections due to be held early next year. The association said in a statement that the elections posed grave risks to the future of Iraq as it would undermine Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The signatories of the statement include Imam Khalesi University, Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS); the National Trend Movement; Iraqi National Foundation Conference; Iraqi Turkomen Front; and the Christian Democratic Party.

"Ahmad Abd al-Ghafur al-Samarrai, a member of the AMS, told Aljazeera: 'The AMS, the Iraqi National Foundational Conference and other groups describe the forthcoming elections under US occupation as a farce and that it will not be truly representative neither will it express the ambitions of the Iraqi people.' The announcement was made because of the 'massacre of the people of Falluja and the collective punishment with wanton destruction meted out by the US,' he said."