(AINA) -- Election monitors from the Netherlands were denied access by the Kurdish Regional Government in North Iraq. The elections were held on Saturday, September 21. The election monitors were from three organizatons, Jubilee Campaign, Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) and Assyria Council of Europe. The delegation included Attiya Gamri, member of the Provinical Parliament in the Netherlands and an Assyrian.

The monitors were to be stationed at Ankawa, Zakho and Dohuk.

According to Ms. Gamri, Iraqi election officials gave permission first to UNPO, then to the Jubilee Campaign and the Assyria Council of Europe within three days of the elections, at which point the delegation was told permission from the KRG was also needed. But the KRG never responded.

In the 2009 elections there were many voting violations against Assyrians (AINA 2-12-2009, 2-10-2009).