Bush praises voters for their bravery

US PRESIDENT George Bush called yesterday's elections in Iraq a success and promised the United States would continue trying to prepare Iraqis to secure their own country.

"The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the centre of the Middle East," Mr Bush told reporters at the White House yesterday, four hours after the polls closed. He did not take questions.

Mr Bush praised the bravery of Iraqis who turned out to vote despite continuing violence and intimidation. Mr Bush said they "firmly rejected the antidemocratic ideology" of terrorists.

Iraqis defied threats of violence and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in their first free election in a half-century on Sunday.

Insurgents struck polling stations with a string of suicide bombings and mortar volleys, killing at least 44 people, including nine suicide bombers.

"Some Iraqis were killed while exercising their rights as citizens," Mr Bush said. He also mourned the loss of American and British troops killed yesterday. "Their sacrifices were made in a vital cause of freedom."

Mr Bush cautioned that the election will not end violence in Iraq, but said US forces will continue training and helping Iraqis "so this rising democracy can eventually take responsibility for its own security".

Democrat Senator Edward Kennedy said Mr Bush "must look beyond the election".

"The best way to demonstrate to the Iraqi people that we have no long-term designs on their country is for the administration to withdraw some troops now and to begin to negotiate a phase-down of our long-term military presence," Mr Kennedy added.

Earlier yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the elections are a first step to a brighter democratic future for a country once held under the thumb of tyranny.

Iraqis will now work to reduce ethnic or sectarian differences, and the US will discuss the continued need for outside security forces with the newly-elected Iraqi government, Ms Rice said.

"We all recognise the Iraqis have a long road ahead of them," Ms Rice said on CBS programme Face The Nation.

"The insurgency is not going to go away as a result of today, but the Iraqi people have taken a very important step in losing the sense of fear and intimidation that has been in their lives for decades under deposed leader Saddam Hussein," Ms Rice said.

She said the election went better than expected, but did not further elaborate on any US predictions for turnout, violence or other measures.

In Iraq, officials said turnout among the 14 million eligible voters appeared higher than the 57% they had predicted.>

Iraq quotes

This is democracy. This is the first day I feel freedom. - Fathiya Mohammed, an elderly woman voter in the small town of Askan south of Baghdad.

I came here to vote for our goal, which is freedom, and this is the first step toward democracy. - Shi'ite voter Abu Ahmed in Baqouba.

We are feeling happiness today to be able to participate in a day like this after all these years. Now I can choose representatives for the Kurdish people, and you know what the situation was like for the Kurds in the past. Today the Kurds are happy. - Anwar Nader in the city of Kirkuk.

As you can see, we broke a barrier of fear - electoral commission official Mijm Towirish.

I'm here because my conscience dictates that I should participate - Hussein Abbas, aged 63, a father of eight.

I don't have a job. I hope the new government will give me a job - Rashi Ayash, aged 50, a former Iraqi army lieutenant colonel.

I can't read or write, so I ticked the number of the Kurdish ticket. I was afraid to make a mistake. I hope the Kurds get a great number of votes so that we can rule ourselves - Fouad Fattah, aged 29, Kurdish policeman in Irbil.

I am for elections. The killings and destruction today are against the interest of the Iraqi people, especially on the day that the Iraqis are deciding their political future - Sheikh Hussein al-Budeiri, aged 48, from Babil province.

This is a chance for you as Iraqis to assure your and your children's future - Gov Hamad Hmoud Shagti, in the mostly Sunni province of Salaheddin.

The elections are being held under an American occupation with a never-ending, open appetite based on an imperial strategy that aims for hegemony over the region and the world, starting from Iraq - editorial in the Sharjah-based Al-Khaleej daily.

The irony is the Arab regimes, who criticise the gaps in the (Iraqi) elections and demand they be honest and transparent leading to full democracy for all Iraqis, are themselves banning such elections for their own peoples - Al-Anwar political analyst Rafik Khoury.