Electoral officials in Iraq say they do not have the authority to postpone the nation's January elections, as demanded by leading Iraqi political groups.
At least 15 mostly Sunni and Kurdish political groups asked the electoral commission Friday to delay the January 30 poll by up to six months because of ongoing violence in the country.
But the commission's chairman, Abdel Hussein al-Hindawi, said Saturday, that any delay would have to be discussed among various groups, including the Iraqi interim government, parliament and the United Nations.
Meanwhile, a U.S. soldier was killed Saturday, by a roadside bomb near the town of Duluiya, 90 kilometers north of Baghdad. The U.S. military also says several Iraqi insurgents were killed while attacking a police station and other targets in the town of Khalis, north of Baghdad.
