Violence toned down by 93% during last quarter of 2008 – U.S. army

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Acts of violence targeting civilians and Iraqi and U.S. forces in the country has toned down by 93% during the last quarter of 2008, a spokesman for the U.S. forces in Iraq said on Thursday. The credit for this decreasing violence goes to the Iraqi forces thanks to their initiative and preemptive attacks, General David Perkins said during a press conference he held on Thursday in Baghdad, attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. He noted that the security progress has helped joint Iraqi-U.S. forces to make other achievements through broadening the scope for the forthcoming provincial council elections. On the role of the Multi-National Force (MNF) in the efforts to maintain security during the local elections, he replied that the Iraqi forces will provide actual security for the electorate and ballot stations while the MNF’s role will be confined to providing external security, protection of Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) and securing air cover on elections day. The Iraqi provincial council elections are scheduled to be held on January 31 in 14 out of Iraq’s 18 provinces. No local elections will be held in Kirkuk and the three autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region provinces of Arbil, Sulaimaniya and Duhuk. AmR (P) 1