JERUSALEM, Jan 13 (AFP) - Israelis of Iraqi origin will be able to take part in this month's Iraqi election but only if they vote outside the Jewish state, the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) said Thursday.
"Israelis of Iraqi origin will be authorised to vote in the elections to parliament," said Sarah Tosh of the Geneva-based IOM which is organising an out-of-country vote for Iraqi expatriates.
Tosh said that voters would have to cast their ballots in one of 14 countries which have set up special polling booths for the January 30 ballot, the nearest of which is in Amman, the capital of neighbouring Jordan.
Anyone who wants to register for voting must present two forms of identity and present proof that they have at least an Iraqi father between January 17 and 23. The expatriate vote will take place between January 28 and 30.
But in Baghdad, election commission spokesman Farid Ayar said that holders of Israeli papers would not be allowed to vote.
"Any person who comes forward with Israeli documents to prove they are of Iraqi origin will not be able to vote for the simple reason we do not recognise that country," he told AFP.
"But any Jew of Iraqi origin, whatever his nationality so long as he is not Israeli, is welcome at the polling station," said Ayar. "It's not a question of origin or religion, but just that we do not have relations with Israel."
In any case, Mordechai Ben Porat, president of the association of Israeli Jews of Iraqi origin, said he doubted that "any Israelis will actually travel to Jordan just to take part in the Iraqi election".
Some 150,000 Jews lived in Iraq, including many in Iraqi Kurdistan, before the creation of Israel in 1948. But most of them emigrated to the Jewish state, and only a few dozen Jews remain in Iraq today.
The tiny Jewish community lives in Baghdad, chiefly around a synagogue in the Batawin district.
Israel has never had diplomatic relations with Iraq and considered Baghdad its chief enemy until president Saddam Hussein's overthrow in April 2003 by US-led forces.
01/13/2005 17:19 GMT - AFP