Key Iraqi security challenge ahead of March poll

Ahead of contentious Iraqi parliamentary polls on 7 March, the mood in Baghdad is muted. Sunni insurgents led by the Islamic State of Iraq (Al-Qaeda) have staged a number of high profile and bloody attacks in the city in recent months, vowing to overthrow the illegitimate regime of PM Maliki and stoke tensions between Shiite and Sunni communities. Attacks in Shiite holy areas (Karbala and Najaf) have also revealed the insurgents goal of wideing the rift between the two main Iraqi groups and returning the country to anarchy not seen since the height of the sectarian conflict in 2006. As 7 March draws closer the insurgents will become increasingly desperate to stage bolder and deadlier attacks, for a successful election will greatly reduce what little legitimacy they have left in the eyes of the Iraqi people. The key test for the Iraqi government therefore is security and free and fair polls (and preferably a poll which results in a fair distribution of power). Mecasr continue to watch with interest.