Voters go to the polls for historic Iraqi election

EXILED Iraqi voters began voting in western Sydney, Australia, last night in their country's historic elections which are the first since former dictator Saddam Hussein was ousted in 2003.

Amid tight security at a converted furniture warehouse, young children mingled with elderly Kurdish women in head-to-toe black robes. About two dozen people jostled to be among the first to vote at 7am. (8pm Irish time).

"This is a long dream that now comes true," said 56-year-old Karim Jari before casting his vote.

Australia is one of 14 countries where Iraqi exiles can vote. In Iraq, the vote is on Sunday. Elsewhere, it runs from tomorrow until Sunday. Nearly 12,000 Iraqi exiles registered to vote in Australia, about 15% of the estimated 80,000 Iraqi nationals eligible.

But with the election three days away, insurgents bent on wrecking the poll killed 19 Iraqis and a US marine and bombed polling stations in the country's Sunni heartland yesterday.

The of attacks, including the execution of four Iraqi National Guards, came as US investigators probed a helicopter crash that killed 31 US troops on Wednesday, the deadliest day for US forces since the war began.

US President George W Bush has urged Iraqis to "defy the terrorists" and vote in the country's first election since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in April 2003.

But the jihadist Army of Ansar al-Sunna issued a "final warning" to stay away from the polls, saying anyone who voted would be marked for death.

"Those who don't pay heed will have only themselves to blame," the group said on an Islamist website.

Another faction led by al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, which has led the bloodiest attacks in the electoral countdown, has declared "holy war" on the poll.

Fears are running so high that most candidates are keeping their names secret, and officials are trying to withhold the locations of voting centres to prevent attacks on election day.

"Elections? I don't know anything about elections. Nobody has told me where I have to go and vote," complained 71-year-old Mohammed Saleh in Samarra.