NBC News:

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And al Qaeda's contribution:

Updated at: 0120 PST, Saturday, March 06, 2010
BAGHDAD: Al-Qaeda in Iraq on Friday threatened to kill people who vote in the war-torn nation's election and imposed a self-declared curfew during polling hours when millions are to cast ballots.


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The Islamic state of Iraq (ISI), the Qaeda front in the country, in a statement two days ahead of Sunday's vote said anyone who defies the curfew would "expose himself to the anger of Allah and then to all kinds of weapons of the mujahedeen."

The group, which has previously threatened to sabotage the elections and claimed responsibility for attacks that have killed hundreds in Iraq, delivered its warning after a series of suicide bombings left dozens dead.

The ISI statement came as Iraq's religious leaders ordered citizens to vote and safeguard democracy in the second parliamentary election since the ouster of dictator Saddam Hussein in a US-led invasion in 2003.

"The Islamic state declares for the time a curfew on election day... from six in the morning until six pm, throughout Iraq and especially in Sunni areas," the SITE monitoring agency said in a statement on its website.

"For the safety of our people, any of those who learn of this, report it to those who do not know and supply yourself with needs for the curfew," it said in a translation of the message which was posted on jihadist websites.

ISI leader Abu Omar al-Baghdadi last month threatened to disrupt Sunday's election by "military means."

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