Iraq PM says poll will go ahead

Allawi admitted problems but said the vote would take place

Iraq's interim Prime Minister, Iyad Allawi, has said elections must go ahead as planned in January even if violence stops some Iraqis from voting.

In an interview with UK newspapers, he conceded that some of the worst-hit towns may be unable to hold a vote.

But he said it was important that the political process should continue.

The Iraqi prime minister also said he expected the trial of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to begin before the end of 2004.

A surge in fighting on Sunday between US-led forces and Iraqi militants left about 70 people dead across the country, including 37 in Baghdad.

The heaviest clashes for weeks erupted in the Iraqi capital after mortars fell in the Green Zone government quarter.

Confident

The BBC's Caroline Hawley, in Baghdad, says that more than two months into the handover of power, neither Iraqi nor US forces seem able to exert control in Baghdad.

Despite the continuing violence, Mr Allawi said the aim was for the whole country to be involved in the direct elections set for next January.

Baghdad saw several hours of fighting on Sunday

"If, for any reason, 300,000 people cannot vote because terrorists decide so - and this is imposing a very big if - then frankly 300,000 people is not going to alter 25 million people voting," Mr Allawi told The Times and Guardian newspapers.

"There are problems, yes. But to the point that we can't conduct an election? I don't think so."

In an interview on Sunday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was confident that the elections for next year could still be held on time - though he gave no further details on the plan to end the violence.

"This is not the time to get weak in the knees or faint about it, but to drive on and finish the work that we started," he told NBC television.