While Iraq is making provision for Iraqi exiles in more than 14 countries to vote in the Jan. 30 election, some 90,000 Jews who fled Iraq for Israel will be excluded from participating.

That's the word from Iraqi officials who say the exclusion is due to the fact that the newly liberated nation still does not recognize the Jewish state.

The government said yesterday allowing Israelis of Iraqi origin to participate in the country's elections under the Out of Country Voting program was "out of question."

Even if Iraqi Jews living in Israel wanted to travel to a voting center in Amman, Jordan, they would be prohibited from casting ballots.

Government spokesman Asma Khader said Israelis of Iraqi origin are not eligible for voting in line with the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, which has the authority to legally enforce rules and procedures relating to elections held throughout the transitional period.

"There is no room for this issue to be part of the Iraqi elections and their proceedings, even if Israel tried to push for it," Khader, also minister of culture, told her weekly press conference yesterday.

The announcement contradicted an earlier statement by the International Organization for Migration, which is organizing the Out of Country Voting program for Iraqi expatriates. Last Thursday, the IOM said Israelis of Iraqi origin would be able to take part in Iraqi elections if they voted in one of the balloting centers located in one of 14 countries established by the organization.

Even though Israel boasts one of the largest populations of ex-Iraqis in the world, the Jewish state was not included.

"Israelis of Iraqi origin will be authorized to vote in the elections to parliament," said Sarah Tosh of the Geneva-based IOM, noting that the nearest polling booth is in Amman.

But in Baghdad, Iraqi spokesman Farid Ayar said holders of Israeli papers would not be allowed to vote.

"Any person who comes forward with Israeli documents to prove they are of Iraqi origin will not be able to vote for the simple reason that we do not recognize that country," he told Agence France-Presse last week.

An estimated 1 million Iraqis living abroad are eligible to take part in the Jan. 30 poll to elect a transitional national assembly and can cast their votes between Jan. 28-30.

Registration began Monday in the 14 countries – Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Jordan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States – and runs until Jan. 23.

The election is being hailed as the first real vote since the Baath Party, later led by ousted President Saddam Hussein, took power in a coup nearly 40 years ago.

Iraqi nationals wanting to vote need to present two forms of identification, including one picture ID. They must be at least 18 and have proof that either they or their father was born in Iraq, election officials said.

Millions fled Iraq during the rule of Saddam, who crushed political liberties and dragged the country through a series of costly wars.

Countries with the largest numbers of Iraqis are Syria with an estimated 250,000 Iraqi voters, the United States with at least 200,000, and Britain with 150,000 voters and the biggest Iraqi population in Europe.