STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Iraq is preparing for elections despite increasing violence there. A bomb struck central Baghdad today, killing at least 18 people. That comes after yesterday's attacks killed dozens in Baghdad. None of that is stopping candidates from standing in the national elections that are planned for March 7th.
ARI SHAPIRO, Host:
And those candidates include the man we'll meet next. He left a comfortable life in America to run for Iraq's parliament. He's running in the northern city of Kirkuk, which sits on a kind of political fault line, between rival ethnic groups. NPR's Quil Lawrence sent us this story.
QUIL LAWRENCE: On a tour of the hospital, Karim looks in on a young boy who is unconscious after a car crash. Across the room is a local judge nearly killed by a car bomb. The hospital sees 23,000 patients a month. Karim keeps shaking his head. There's no chemotherapy, no angioplasty, no CAT scan.
NAJMALDEEN KARIM: It's unfortunate, because Kirkuk is so much rich in oil and everything. And if you have a head injury and you are brought to this hospital, they wouldn't know what's wrong with you.
LAWRENCE: Unidentified Man #1: (Foreign language spoken)
LAWRENCE: Kirkukis are fed up with the two main Kurdish parties. And that's probably why both have urged Dr. Karim to run. Iraq's Kurdish president, Jalal Talabani, has loaned him a bullet-proof car. As the driver races through the city, Karim gazes out the window.
KARIM: The U.S. has spent - what - hundreds of billions of dollars here in Iraq. Iraqi government doesn't know its priorities. It's so corrupt, so inept, it's almost hopeless. You would expect a little more from the U.S. putting all that money - how could you become loved in this country if you (unintelligible) by giving services, not just corrupting people.
LAWRENCE: At 60, Karim is well known to a certain generation of Kirkukis because his father was a famous imam here. He is also known by his first name, Najmaldeen, to doctors like Niaz Akhmed Amin(ph), the hospital director.
NIAZ AKHMED AMIN: When I was a student in medical college, I hear about his name. It's a honor to me to see Dr. Najmaldeen.
LAWRENCE: But like most Kirkukis, Amin has no time for politicians.
AKHMED AMIN: The people here in Kirkuk, they look for somebody to improve their life. I think that people in Kirkuk, they will be more happy if Dr. Najmaldeen come back to hospital work as a doctor and do his job.
LAWRENCE: Walking around Kirkuk's central market, the attitude towards politics mirrors the chilly, drizzling weather.
ABDUL HASEM SADUN: (Foreign language spoken)
LAWRENCE: The election makes no difference, says Abdul Hasen Sadun(ph), a Turkoman shopkeeper. The candidates are only serving themselves, not people, he says. Ducking into the warmth of a tea shop, several Kurdish laborers are wolfing down steaming bowls of white beans and eggplant with rice. An older customer says he remembers Najmaldeen Karim's father, the famous imam.
AMIN JAFF: (Foreign language spoken)
LAWRENCE: He is from a noble family, and there is no one more deserving of a seat in parliament, says Amin Jaff(ph).
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
LAWRENCE: Unidentified Man #2: (Foreign language spoken)
LAWRENCE: Whether he is the son of a famous Imam or the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, says one barber, he'll still be a big thief like the rest of them. Dr. Karim says he is aware of the atmosphere, and he says he is not under any illusions about single handedly changing Iraq.
KARIM: Quil Lawrence, NPR News.
INSKEEP: And we have some more details on today's suicide bombing in Baghdad. This time it was a car bomber. The target was a police crime lab in the central part of the city. The explosion killed at least, 18 people. This is the latest in a string of attacks that have struck the capital since last August. And the bombings stand as a challenge to Iraqi officials who want to show they have made the country safer and who are running for reelection in about six weeks.