Iraq leader warns of poll delay

Allawi has vowed to crush the insurgents

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has warned that violence could force a delay in general elections due in January next year.

Speaking on America's CBS News he said the date was entirely dependent on the security situation.

His comments came amid more violence, with some 40 people believed killed in a twin car bomb attack in Hilla.

Also, suspected al-Qaeda-linked gunmen are threatening to kill three Turks whom they claim to have taken hostage.

In his warning about the effects of the volatile security situation Mr Allawi said the planned elections could slip by as much as two months.

We are drawing up plans to provide amnesty to Iraqis who supported the so-called resistance without committing crimes, while isolating the hardcore elements of terrorists and criminals Iyad Allawi

"We are committed to elections, and one of the tasks is really to work towards achieving these objectives. However, security will be the main feature of whether we will be able to do it in January, February or March," he said.

The US is due to hand over sovereignty to Iraq's interim government on 30 June and the Iraqi are then expected to facilitate United Nations-backed general elections by 31 January.

Amnesty plans

Mr Allawi has vowed to restore security to Iraq and in the interview he said his administration was considering declaring emergency laws in some area of Iraq to curb the violence.

"We are considering among other things a law which we are calling the defence of public safety," he said.

"It would be empowering the government to take action and measures against criminals, apprehend them, question them, investigate and impose curfews whenever is necessary. These are all that we are calling the defence of public safety in Iraq," Mr Allawi added.

Iraq's leaders are considering imposing emergency laws

But the interim leader was keen to stress that the new law would not be tantamount to imposing martial law.

In an article in Britain's Independent on Sunday newspaper Mr Allawi also moots the idea of offering an amnesty to those Iraqis who have resisted the US-led occupation "out of a sense of desperation".

"We are drawing up plans to provide amnesty to Iraqis who supported the so-called resistance without committing crimes, while isolating the hardcore elements of terrorists and criminals," Mr Allawi wrote.

Fresh violence

While the Iraqi leaders contemplate ways to stop the violence it has continued unabated.

The US military said on Sunday it believed 40 people were killed and 22 wounded in a twin car bomb attack in Hilla on Saturday.

It was initially reported that 17 people had died in one car bomb explosion in the mainly Shia Muslim town, about 100km (60 miles) south of the capital, Baghdad.

Earlier on Saturday, one person was killed and 18 people, including the culture minister of the pro-American Kurdistan Democratic Party, were injured when a car bomb exploded in the Kurdish town of Irbil in the north.

Elsewhere, gunmen in the town of Baquba targeted two political offices, including the local headquarters of Mr Allawi's own party.

And the Arabic television station al-Jazeera has broadcast a videotape showing three Turkish workers who are said to have been kidnapped in Iraq.

An accompanying statement, purportedly from an organisation linked to al-Qaeda, said the three would be beheaded within 72 hours unless Turkey stopped co-operating with US-led coalition forces in Iraq.