Mixed picture for women in Iraqi elections

Following on from this post about the dire state of women's rights in Iraq, some accounts of last week's provincial elections have suggested a more hopeful picture, with religious parties losing ground, and more women candidates standing than ever before. This report from MSNBC was one of many to put a generally upbeat slant on the prospects for Iraqi women:

A more complex picture is presented by this Guardian report, which cites threats to female candidates and suggests that some women were pressurised to stand in order to fulfil a quota. And it's pretty depressing that women running for office in these elections felt they had to wear a veil in order to gain acceptance: though even that, it seems, was not enough to prevent many of them having their campaign posters torn down or defaced.

Update

More optimism - from Max. I hope he's right.