His statements came amid growing indications that Sunni Arabs will either boycott the January 30 polls or will be prevented from taking part in it due to a spreading insurgency.

"The new government that comes into place in Baghdad, the transitional national assembly, will be majority Shia," Powell said on Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press" show. "That's the majority of the population."

Shia Muslims make up more than 60 per cent of Iraq's population, concentrated mostly in southern and central parts of the country. Sunni Arabs, who live in central and western provinces, comprise about 20 per cent of all Iraqis.

Former Iraqi foreign minister Adnan Pachachi, who now heads the Sunni-dominated Iraqi Indep-endent Democrats Party, called on Sunday for delaying the vote, saying elections under current circumstances "will leave a large segment of the population disenfranchised and many regions underrepresented."