Iraq readies for elections after bloody year

BAGHDAD, DECEMBER 14 (AGENCIES)Engulfed in a year of violence, rebellion and military campaigns, Iraq ends 2004 on the threshold of general elections, billed as a crucial step in the country's passage from foreign domination to sovereignty.

The killing of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqis has been the backdrop to a political process marked by the March 8 adoption of an interim constitution, which brought a US-backed Iraqi government to power on June 28.

The basic lack of legitimacy encouraged violence and violence undermines the legitimacy," is how Joost Hiltermann from the conflict monitoring International Crisis Group describes 2004 in Iraq.

In the last 12 months, Iraq has been saturated by countless suicide attacks, car bombs and thousands of insurgency operations that have left Sunni Muslim strongholds west and north of Baghdad particularly awash with violence and fear.