Iraqi officials have unveiled security measures for the January 30th election in a bid to encourage broad participation in the ballot. Officials Saturday said voters in the violence-ridden provinces of al-Anbar and Ninevah will be allowed to register and vote on the same day. They also announced plans to restrict travel and ban traffic around polling stations to prevent car bombings. Meanwhile, supporters of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated in the southern cities of Basra, Amarah, and Kut to demand an end to electricity and gasoline shortages. And in a separate development, Iraqi officials confirmed reports that an Iraqi woman trained by Saddam Hussein loyalists in Syria intended to kill Iraq's defense minister. The woman collapsed in the minister's office and failed in her mission.
