Mutlaq group says to boycott Iraq elections

The Baath-linked Iraqi National Dialogue Front led by Saleh al-Mutlak said on Saturday it was boycotting Iraq’s March 7 general election.

Al-Mutlak, a Sunni MP banned from the election on links to the Baath Party of Saddam Hussein, confirmed its candidates would not contest the poll.

The group’s spokesman Haider al-Mullah accused Iran of interference and counted it as the reason behind the boycott.

“After the remarks of General Ray Odierno and US ambassador to Baghdad, National Dialogue Front cannot continue in” such a political process.

“The National Dialogue Front therefore announces its stance is to boycott the forthcoming election and the invitation is open to other political entities to take the same stance.”

While in Washington on Tuesday, General Odierno, the top US military officer in Iraq, said Chalabi and Allami are “clearly are influenced by Iran.”

“We have direct intelligence that tells us that,” the commander told an audience at the Institute for the Study of War in the US capital.