Sunni Arabs in the city of Fallujah, 50 km west of Baghdad, are preparing to participate in the coming constitution referendum and the then general elections next January, a government spokesperson said on Thursday.

All indications showed that there is high percentage of people in the regions that boycotted the last parliamentary elections are registering their names to participate in the coming October referendum and the general elections next January, Laith Kubba told the press.

In Fallujah, considered one of the major hotbed of Iraqi insurgency, clerics of mosques called on the residents in the city to participate in the constitution referendum scheduled to be held in mid October.

They urged the residents through loudspeakers to participate and say "no" to those who want to isolate them from the political process.

The Iraqi Islamic Party, the largest Sunni party, also distributed handouts calling on the people to participate the referendum. Many of the residents showed support and desire to participate.

"I want to participate and I call on the people of the city to do so because we do not want to let those who came from the other side of the border to rule us again," said Mohammed Uthman, a government employee.

"If we don't participate this time, it means we let the present government to continue, and thus the real ruler would be the Iranians and not the Iraqis," he added.

Sheikh Ahmed Mhana, Imam of Mu'mineen mosque in Fallujah, said that what took place these days and the practices of the government show hideous sectarianism, which drive them to participate in the coming elections.

"I was hoping to participate in the elections when the occupation is ended, but the agents of the occupiers took things to a level that forces us to participate in order save the country from the new Shoobis and Safawis," he added.

Many Iraqi people, especially Sunni Arabs boycotted this year's parliamentary elections on Jan. 30 in protests against US forces' wide scale military operations in Fallujah and other Iraqi cities.

However, signs now show the Sunni Arabs are ready to join the coming constitution referendum and general elections next January with great power.

Independent Higher Commission of Elections in Iraq announced that it had opened new centers for the registration of voters in the western Sunni Arabs-dominated governorates of Anbar, Salah Al Deen, and Ninawa.

Source: Xinhua