Iraqi City of Mosul Key Electoral Battlefield

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a polling center as election officials carry in voting...

An Iraqi policeman stands guard outside a polling center as election officials carry in voting booths in Mosul, Iraq, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2009. This weekend's election in Mosul is a showdown for power between Arabs and Kurds, with the outcome likely to influence whether al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents lose their last major urban foothold in Iraq.(AP Photo)

(AP)

This weekend's election in Mosul is a showdown for power between Arabs and Kurds, with the outcome likely to influence whether al-Qaida and other Sunni insurgents lose their last major urban foothold in Iraq.

U.S. officials say the insurgency remains a potent force in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, in part because the majority Sunni Arab population believes it is poorly served by a local government dominated by Kurds.

Voters have a chance to change that when they select members of ruling provincial councils here and in most of the country in Saturday's balloting, the first election in three years.

As a sign of the tension here, Iraqi police banned vehicles from Mosul's streets Friday morning and told residents to stay at home until they are ready to vote the following day. Similar bans were not due to take effect in the rest of the country until late Friday.

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The measures in Mosul were imposed the day after gunmen assassinated a local Sunni candidate.

Sunnis largely boycotted the last provincial polls in January 2005, allowing Kurds to gain control of 31 seats on the 41-member council and leaving Sunnis with only a handful. The new council will have only 37 members, including three seats reserved for minorities.

U.S. officials hope a big Sunni Arab turnout will bring them fully into the political process and undermine support for the insurgency.

"I think this will be the first step toward building a democratic state," said Bassem Bello, the Christian mayor of the outlying area of Tel Kaif. "The elections might not be what we aspire to, but they are a first step."

Sunni leaders say their community — some 60 percent of the province's 2.6 million people — is ready to vote this time around.

"We hope that this time the council is going to be far more representative. We hope that it's going to be transparent," said Mohammed Shakir Ghanam, the head of the Iraqi Islamic Party and a gubernatorial hopeful.