Essentially Blind Observation

[Zhukov]

Foreign Team Will Watch Vote in Iraq From Jordan
By JOEL BRINKLEY

Published: December 23, 2004


ASHINGTON, Dec. 22 - Representatives of seven nations met in Ottawa this week to recruit international observers for the Iraqi elections and agreed to watch the vote, but from the safety of Amman, Jordan.

They said it was too dangerous to monitor the voting in Iraq, meaning international observers are unlikely for the elections on Jan. 30 - making them the first significant vote of this sort recently with no foreign presence, United Nations officials say.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/23/politics/23elect.html?oref=login