BAGHDAD, Dec 5: More than 90 deaths in three days added weight on Sunday to renewed calls from Iraqi politicians seeking to delay planned January 30 elections, arguing that the climate of violence could lead to the results being challenged.

"Flawed Elections: Disputed Results" was the slogan at a gathering in Baghdad of about 200 mainly Sunni Muslim politicians and party officials after a sharp upsurge in violence following a period of relative calm.

"How can you imagine, in the climate of violence, that candidates can go out to campaign and how can you guarantee that electors can go vote without risking their lives," demanded Mishan al-Juburi of the Sunni Freedom and Reconciliation bloc.

"Terrorists have taken control of Mosul (the main northern city) and the government is incapable of doing anything," he said, adding that those who insisted on sticking to the January timetable "want simply to seize power".

Sixty-six corpses, mostly of police, have been found in Mosul since November 19 as insurgents continue to target the US-backed Iraqi security forces. Speaker after speaker said delaying the poll would be better than undermining its legitimacy, especially as the ballot is to set the foundations for permanent institutions.

Tareq al-Hashemi, secretary general of the moderate Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, insisted a delay "does not mean bowing to the threats" of those behind the attacks. But he said: "The deterioration in security conditions in numerous provinces means we should postpone them."

More than 90 people have been killed over the past three days in attacks against US forces, their allies and Iraqi security services across the country. The United States insists that the January 30 date be met.

Hashemi, however, distanced himself from the powerful Committee of Muslim Scholars, which has called for a boycott of the poll to protest against military assaults on Sunni bastions and rejects any polls organised "under occupation".

Lakhdar Brahimi, a special advisor to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and until recently his top envoy in Iraq, said in a newspaper interview that the landmark vote could only take place "if first and foremost security improves."

But Iraqi officials, including interim Prime Minister Allawi, and his US backers have insisted that the elections for a national assembly, provincial councils and a Kurdish regional assembly will take place as planned. Allawi's own party, however, was one of 10 mainstream political groups which called last month for the elections to be postponed. -AFP