Early voting begins in Iraq; nine killed
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-12 20:31

This time, more Sunni Arab candidates are in the race, and changes in the election law to allocate most seats by province instead of based on a party's nationwide total all but guaranteed a sizable Sunni bloc in the next assembly.

Turnout in January was about 58 percent but less than 5 percent in the predominantly Sunni province of Anbar, a hotbed of insurgency.

Even with a big Sunni vote, Shiites are expected to win the biggest share of parliamentary seats. Shiites form an estimated 60 percent of Iraq's 27 million people compared to 20 percent for the Sunni Arabs.

Some Sunni religious extremists, including al-Qaida in Iraq, have warned Iraqis against voting. But most insurgent groups have avoided threats of violence that helped keep Sunni turnout low in January.

In the discovery of the 13 prisoners, a statement by the Iraqi Human Rights Ministry did not say why they needed treatment, but said an investigating judge also ordered the immediate release of 56 people apparently held without reason at the Baghdad facility — which was inspected by a team of investigators on Dec. 8.

Opposition parties and Sunni Arab groups have accused the government and the Shiite-dominated security forces of human rights abuses.

Last month, an inspection by U.S. troops found up to 173 malnourished Iraqi detainees at a building of the Shiite-led Interior Ministry in Baghdad's Jadriyah district. Some of the inmates showed signs of torture. On Nov. 15, al-Jaafari promised ordered an investigation and results within two weeks.

The Interior Ministry did not say why they needed treatment, what had caused their injuries, or if they were consistent with abuse or torture.

But an officer at the ministry, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to speak to the media, said the 13 were taken to a hospital due to "signs of torture."

According to the Human Rights Ministry, the facility located next to the Interior Ministry housed 625 detainees in "very overcrowded" conditions. It added that the Justice Ministry ordered that 75 detainees be transferred to one of its prisons.