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BAGHDAD, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Some Iraqi political groups are threatening voters with eternal damnation if they fail to vote in this week's election, prompting complaints from other parties, an election offical said on Tuesday.

Farid Ayar, spokesman for Iraq's election body, said some parties had used photographs of religious leaders in campaign posters that might contravene electoral rules.

"They are raising some religious pictures and asking people to follow them because if not they will go to hell," said Ayar, spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), which is organising Sunday's poll.

"There are many people complaining about that... From the other side, there are some complaints about some parties using official vehicles to distribute (posters)," he added.


Candidates from Iraq's Shi'ite community have been accused of cashing in on the popularity of their leading cleric, the revered Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, by using his photograph in their campaign literature.


Sistani is not standing for election but a mainly Shi'ite list of candidates drawn up with his guidance is expected to do best in the elections. He has also issued an edict ordering his followers to vote.


The cleric's white-bearded face, topped by a black turban, is plastered on posters across Baghdad and cities in Iraq's Shi'ite-dominated south.


Under Iraq's recently drafted electoral rules, parties may not display
religious logos on ballot papers. The guidelines on using photographs of famous clerics on posters are less clear.


"We have said it is better not to use such symbols," Ayar said. "We have issued a statement saying to these parties: 'Use logos, use anything, but don't use these symbols'."


He said the IECI had talked to the offending candidates and would make a further announcement on the issue this week.


Ayar said Shi'ites had responded to the complaints by saying other parties were using controversial photos in their literature, including pictures of Abdul Karim al-Qasim, the brigadier who overthrew Iraq's monarchy in 1958, ushering in half a century of coups and dictatorship.


Other parties have complained that interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has contravened electoral rules by using government cars, helicopters and resources to boost his election campaign.


The IECI said it would consider those complaints too, but could not say what action it might take.


© Copyright Reuters Ltd. All rights reserved. The information contained In this news report may not be published, broadcast or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of Reuters Ltd.


01/25/2005 14:56