[JURIST] The entire 13-member regional election commission for the Iraqi province of Anbar, west of Baghdad in the so-called "Sunni triangle", has resigned and gone into hiding according to a local newspaper. The head of the commission said it was "impossible to hold elections" in the volatile Sunni-dominated region, which includes the flashpoint cities of Fallujah and Ramadi. Insurgent attacks in the area had already complicated voter registration. There is no word yet as to whether a replacement commission will be appointed, and no official reaction from the national Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq. The Washington Post has more. The senior UN elections official in Iraq helping to co-ordinate the vote has nonetheless insisted that the Iraqi election scheduled for January 30 will go ahead as planned and denied that there have been mass resignations of electoral staff: "If you have 20 or 30 that have resigned that would be really overstating the case," Carlos Valenzuela said. "One thing I am always amazed about is that electoral officers are still out there working, doing what they can despite all the threats." Reuters has more.