"We are determined to carry out provincial council elections this year and it is incumbent on us not to surrender to the challenges we face," his office quoted him as telling the national election commission.

"It does not matter who wins, as long as the victor is a son of Iraq and works in the interest of its people. It is important that the elections are carried out with fairness, benefiting from previous experience."

Although Iraq held its first contested full-term parliamentary elections in December 2005, it has not held provincial elections since January 2005, when most Sunni Arabs stayed at home, leaving many councils vacant.

The holding of local elections has emerged as one of several "benchmarks" of political progress demanded by Washington as a means of resolving the country's various sectarian and ethnic conflicts.