MOSUL, Iraq, Jan 13 (AFP) - Up to 2,000 specially-trained Iraqi soldiers will be in the restive city of Mosul ahead of the January 30 elections, an officer in one of the recently arrived battalions from this unit said Thursday.
About 600 men from the 24th battalion, also known as the Iraqi Intervention Force, moved into a police academy in Mosul. The rest of the battalions are expected to arrive over the next few days, said the officer who did not wish to be identified.
The force is expected to play an active and direct role in securing polling stations and ballot boxes on election day. US troops will provide back up and support when it is needed.
"We have come to secure the elections and my men have faith in the electoral process," said the Iraqi officer.
"We are true believers that this day will mark a transition from slavery to freedom."
The new arrivals included a wide cross-section of Iraqi society such Sunni Muslims from the western Anbar province, Kurds from Kirkuk and Shiites from the south.
"Mosul is Iraqi and the south is Iraqi," says one soldier identifying himself as Abu Haidar, 31, from the southeastern Shiite city of Kut.
"We are all one nation."
The intervention force was involved alongside US marines in the assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah in November.
Mosul is considered by both Iraqi and US officials as one of the trouble spots in Iraq where insurgents are expected to mass their efforts in order to derail elections.
A total of up to 8,000 additional US and Iraqi forces will be in Mosul ahead of the elections. The backbone of the existing US troop presence in northern Iraq is the 5,000-strong Stryker Brigade.
01/13/2005 17:12 GMT - AFP