Oil Provinces Offer High Stakes in Iraqi Poll

30 January 2009 Iraqis go to the polls on Saturday to choose their local council representatives for the next four years, in the second such elections held in postwar Iraq. The outcome will reflect the balance of power between the major political parties across 14 of the country’s 18 provinces and give an indication of the shape of things to come as Iraq prepares for its next parliamentary elections, most…