ADVISORY-Reuters stories ahead of Iraq's March 7 election
Thu Feb 25, 2010 12:01am ESTIraq holds a parliamentary election on March 7, a milestone as it emerges from the worst of the sectarian violence unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion and seeks to attract international investors, especially oil firms.

Sectarian tensions between majority Shi'ites and once-dominant Sunnis have been rising, and a law needed for the election to take place was initially held up by a dispute with minority Kurds over voting in the disputed city of Kirkuk.

In the run-up to the poll, which will decide who is in charge of Iraq as U.S. forces leave, Reuters plans a series of stories, with pictures and graphics, on topics ranging from the Sunni-Shi'ite divide to the multibillion-dollar oil industry and the mechanics of campaigning.

The package will also include a look at what the result of the election will mean for the Middle East and for U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, and will be accompanied by interviews, factboxes and scenario items.

We will have correspondents on the ground in the still violent city of Mosul, the Sunni heartland of Anbar, and the oil-rich south.