IRAQIS voted yesterday in one of the largest and freest elections in the Arab world, with strong turnout reported in Sunni areas and even a shortage of ballots in some precincts.

SYRIA’S staunchest allies Hizbollah and Amal headed for a clean sweep in south Lebanon’s polls yesterday in the first general election since Syrian troops quit their smaller neighbour.

SHI’ITES will get the largest share of ministries in Iraq in proposals for a new cabinet submitted yesterday to the president by Prime Minister-designate Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

TWO years after the invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime, politicians are continuing negotiations aimed at creating a democratic replacement amid a continuing backdrop of violence and inter-communal tensions.

FOUR explosions ripped through Baghdad yesterday, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens on the eve of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest festival.

The leader of militants who say they beheaded an American in Iraq has allegedly written to Osama bin Laden saying his fighters are being squeezed by US-led coalition troops.

Iraq’s constitution was in limbo today after Shi’ite leaders refused to sign it in a last-minute dispute that wrecked a planned ceremony and marred a landmark in US plans to hand over sovereignty.

SUPPORTERS of Iraq’s top Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said yesterday an assessment by UN officials that elections are not possible before June 30 could stir revolt against their American occupiers.