Iraqi NOC Elections Delayed Again

(ATR) The IOC confirms Iraq elections have been postponed because of internal procedural questions while a source inside Iraq tells ATR the IOC isn't preventing government delays.

The IOC confirms the rescheduling of elections for new leaders of the national Olympic committee of Iraq, currently suspended by the IOC because of government interference.

The elections were due to be held March 14 following talks in Kuwait last month involving the IOC, the Olympic Council of Asia and the Iraqi government. An agreement stipulated the rules and procedures for transparent and fair NOC elections.

But IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said Friday the IOC had agreed to the postponement of NOCI elections until the end of the month "in order for internal procedures to be finalized."

However, a source from inside Iraq tells ATR the date of elections is more likely to be April 4.

"No one is happy about the way the IOC is treating the NOCI legitimate leadership and the newly-elected GA members," he said.

"It looks like the IOC is giving in to whatever the government representative is asking for unfortunately."

Last month, an Iraqi source from a national sports federation told ATR the government was responsible for delaying NOC elections and also claimed the IOC was not doing enough to speed up the process.

The IOC today again dismissed criticism of its role in the protracted election process, restating how it had been "continuously supporting the Iraqi Olympic and sports Movement over the last years."

"After a long and challenging process an agreement has been reached to hold transparent and fair elections in the NOC of Iraq. What matters today is that these elections are taking place in the best possible way. This is why we agreed to the postponement of the elections until the end of March," said Moreau.

The IOC suspendedthe Iraq NOC last June after the government sacked the committee leadership and brought in its own officials from the sports ministry. It violated the Olympic Charter relating to government interference.

Government intervention is also suspected in the 2006 abduction of the first leaders of the post-Saddam era NOCI. Elected in 2004, President Ahmad Al Samarrai and secretary general Amir Jabbar were among dozens of NOC and sports leaders kidnapped at gunpoint during a meeting in Baghdad in July 2006. They are still missing and most of the others have not been heard from since.

The family of Al Samarrai alleges that government figures were behind the kidnappings, which took place against the wider backdrop of sectarian warfare that was raging across Iraq at the time.

The elections this month would be the first to be held since the vote in 2004.

Before the Beijing Games, the IOC lifted the ban on Iraqi athletes competing in the Olympics but only after striking a deal with the government to establish an independent NOC by the end of November. The government failed to meet that deadline.

Sports leaders in Iraq are said to be increasingly concerned that ongoing delays in voting in new NOCI leadership will undermine preparations and participation of national federations and their athletes in regional multisport events. The Asian Martial Arts Games takes place in April in Bangkok and the first Asian Youth Games in Singapore in June.

With reporting from Mark Bisson.