Defying death to have their say

SOME came on crutches, others walked for miles then struggled to read the ballot, but across most of Iraq millions turned out to vote yesterday, defying insurgent threats of a bloodbath.

Suicide bombs and mortars killed up to 44 people yesterday and up to 15 British soldiers died when their RAF Hercules military transport plane crashed north of Baghdad about a half hour after polls closed at 5pm (2pm Irish time)

But Iraqis still came out in force for the first multi-party poll in 50 years.

While in some areas turnout was scant, in most places, including violent Sunni Arab regions, it exceeded expectations.

Many cheered with joy at their first chance to cast a free vote, while others shared chocolates with fellow voters.

Even in Fallujah, the Sunni city west of Baghdad that was a militant stronghold until a US assault in November, a steady stream of people turned out, confounding expectations. Lines of veiled women clutching their papers waited in line to vote.

“We want to be like other Iraqis, we don’t want to always be in opposition,” said Ahmed Jassim, smiling after he voted.

In Baquba, a rebellious city northeast of Baghdad, spirited crowds clapped and danced at one voting station. In Mosul, scene of some of the worst insurgent attacks in recent months, officials said turn-out was surprisingly high.

That said, there were also areas of the Sunni heartland where turn-out was scarce and intimidation appeared to have won.

One of the first to vote was President Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni Muslim Arab with a large tribal following, who cast his ballot inside Baghdad’s fortress-like Green Zone.

“Thanks be to God,” he told reporters, emerging from the booth with his right index finger stained with blue ink to show he had voted. “I hope everyone will go out and vote.”

In the relatively secure Kurdish north, people flowed steadily to the polls. One illiterate man in Arbil, 76-year-old Said Rasool, came alone and was turned away, unable to read the ballot paper. He said he would return with someone to help.

Even in the so-called “triangle of death,” a hotbed of Sunni insurgency south of Baghdad, turnout was solid, officials said.

In mainly Shi’ite Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, hundreds queued patiently. “I am not afraid,” said Samir Khalil Ibrahim. “This is like a festival for all Iraqis.”

A small group cheered in Baghdad as Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, a descendant of Iraq’s last king, went to the polls. Western Baghdad polling stations were busy, with long queues of voters. Most went about the process routinely, filling in their ballots and leaving quickly without much emotion.

Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast in October, was determined to vote. “I would have crawled here if I had to. I don’t want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me. Today, I am voting for peace,” he said.

In Sadr City, a poor Shi’ite neighbourhood of northeast Baghdad, thick lines of voters turned out, women in black robes in one line, men in another.

Some of the first to vote countrywide were policemen, out in force to protect polling centres from attack, part of draconian security measures put in place by US and Iraqi officials.

In Samarra, a restive Sunni-Shi’ite city north of Baghdad, only about 100 people voted at one of two polling sites.

One woman, covered head-to-toe in black robes, said she had voted with pride.

In nearby Baiji, some people were unable to vote because electoral officials failed to turn up.

“We are waiting for the manager with the key,” said an election worker.

In the shrine city of Najaf in the Shi’ite heartland, hundreds of people walked calmly to polling stations. Security around Najaf was some of the tightest.

Shi’ites, who make up 60% of Iraq’s people, are expected to win the vote, overturning years of oppression.