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Insurgents dragged three employees of Iraq's Electoral Commission from a car in Baghdad on Sunday and shot them dead, the latest in a series of attacks designed to disrupt efforts to hold the Jan. 30 election. In the southern Shi'ite holy city of Kerbala, a car bomb exploded near a police academy, causing several casualties, witnesses said. The attack came four days after 10 people were killed in a bomb blast near an important shrine in the city. A spokesman for the Electoral Commission said three junior employees had been killed in the Baghdad assault but said it was unclear if they were targeted because they worked with the commission, which is charged with conducting next month's poll. "We don't know if they were targeted specifically," spokesman and Commission board member Farid Ayar said. A police source confirmed three bodies had been found near Haifa Street, a main thoroughfare of downtown Baghdad that has become a focal point of the Sunni insurgency in the capital. Witnesses said insurgents opened fire on the vehicle before dragging three people from it and shooting them. The car was set on fire and the bodies left lying near the burning wreckage. Guerrillas armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols then set up a roadblock on the street, stopping and searching every car that passed, pointing their guns in through the windows. Fierce gunbattles ensued, witnesses said, as police tried for several hours to get to the scene of the attack. U.S. military helicopters flew low overhead scanning the area, which echoed with gunfire and small explosions, residents said. [more] and [more] and [more]

Bush says Iraqi troops not ready [more]
Last of Hungary's troops leave Iraq [more]
U.S. isn't winning against Iraqi insurgents, agencies warn. The CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency and the State Department have warned President Bush that the United States and its Iraqi allies aren't winning the battle against Iraqi insurgents who are trying to derail the country's Jan. 30 elections, according to administration officials. The officials, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity because intelligence estimates are classified, said the battle in Iraq wasn't lost and that successful elections might yet be held next month. But they said the warnings -including one delivered this week to Bush by CIA Director Porter Goss - indicated that U.S. forces hadn't been able to stop the insurgents' intimidation of Iraqi voters, candidates and others who want to participate in the elections. "We don't have an answer to the intimidation," one senior official said. [more]