BEIJING, Jan. 19 -- Iraq's interim government will restrict traffic and seal borders in a bid to protect voters during next week's election.

    The decision follows another spate of violence in Baghdad on Tuesday,this time killing two people outside the office of a leading Shi'ite political party.

    Another day and another attack bent on wrecking Iraq's national election.

    This suicide car bomb attack on a Shi'ite political party office in Baghdad stoked fears of a bloody election day next week.

    And in a separate assault apparently also designed to scare Shi'ites away from the polls, masked gunmen killed a Shi'ite candidate in the Iraqi capital.

    With only 11 days to go before the election, the US-backed interim government announced more measures to battle insurgents.

    Less than two weeks ago, it extended a state of emergency for another 30 days.

    Now, officials say they will close land borders and restrict traffic across the country.

    Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi says he plans to boost the country's armed forces with 70,000 more troops in an effort to take over more security tasks from US-led forces.

    Currently, the fledgling Iraqi security forces, which're supposed to protect polling stations during the polls, are coming under mounting attacks. Enditem

(Source: CCTV.com)