Sunni's demands to postpone the poll were rejected

Despite relentless violence Iraqi main &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/accidents/ 21/93/375/12421_Shiites.html ' target=_blank>Shiite Muslim parties have rejected demands of secular poiticians and Sunni Moslems to postpone the poll and called on Saturday for elections to go ahead on Jan. 30 as scheduled.

In a joint statement, 42 parties including the leading Dawa Party and Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/usa/2003/03/27/45167.html ' target=_blank>Iraq (SCIRI), labeled moves to delay the poll by six months illegal.

"The political parties which have signed this statement held a meeting to affirm their full commitment to elections being held on the set date without delay," the petition said.

"Postponement is illegal and contradicts the interim constitution and Security Council resolution 1546", informs Reuters.

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 &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/mailbox/22/101/397/14569_tiger.html ' target=_blank>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, says Voice of Ameirca.

According to the ABC News, some radical Sunni Arab organisations have called for a boycott of the elections, arguing they should only be held after foreign troops withdraw.

The US administration also appeared determined to stick to the initial schedule.