Sniper threat against voters
2005-01-10 15:54
Qaim - A militant group posted threats in at least two towns on Monday warning it would deploy "highly trained" snipers to target voters around Iraq during January 30 elections.
The statement, signed by the previously unknown Secret Republican Army, said 32 snipers will stalk voters outside polling in Wasit, a largely Shiite province south of Baghdad that includes Kut, Numaniya and Suwaiyra.
It didn't say how many would be sent elsewhere.
The threat is the latest in a campaign of intimidation by militants targeting Iraqi voters and electoral workers.
A number of electoral officials have already fell as victims to brutal terror attacks, and many have received death threats.
It was not clear if insurgents are now taking their tactics a step further by using snipers.
Earlier this month, a Lebanese man was killed and another wounded by sniper fire inside the fortified Baghdad Green Zone, home to the US embassy and Iraqi interim government.
It was not clear if the gunman belonged to the coalition or Iraqi security forces or whether he was an insurgent.
The statement was posted in at least two cities in the volatile Anbar province.
It was seen on the walls of the Grand Mosque in downtown Qaim, a town along the western Iraqi border with Syria, as well as in Ramadi, 100km west of Baghdad.
- AP