Iraqis defy bombers to vote in high numbers

IRAQIS defied violence that killed 44 people and calls for a boycott to cast ballots in Iraq's first free election in a half-century yesterday.

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

Women in black abayas whispered prayers at the sound of a nearby explosion as they waited to vote at one Baghdad polling station. But the mood for many was upbeat: civilians and policemen danced with joy at one of the five polling stations where photographers were allowed, and some streets were packed with voters walking shoulder-to-shoulder to vote.

The elderly made their way, hobbling on canes or riding wheelchairs; one elderly woman was pushed along on a wooden cart, another man carried a disabled 80-year-old on his back.

"This is democracy," said Karfia Abbasi, holding up a thumb stained with purple ink to prove she had voted.

Officials said the turnout among the 14 million eligible voters appeared higher than the 57% that had been predicted, although it would be some time before any turnout figure was confirmed.

Polls were largely deserted all day in many cities of the Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji. In Baghdad's mainly Sunni Arab area of Azamiyah, the neighbourhood's four polling centres did not open at all, residents said.

A low Sunni turn-out could undermine the new government that will emerge from the vote and worsen tensions among the country's ethnic, religious and cultural groups.

In a reminder of the dangers that persist in Iraq, a British C-130 military transport plane crashed north of Baghdad, and the wreckage was strewn over a large area, officials said. C-130s can carry dozens of passengers, though there was no word on how many were on the crashed plane, and the number of casualties and cause of the crash were not immediately known.

Casting his vote, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi called it "the first time the Iraqis will determine their destiny."

Prominent Sunni politician Adnan Pachachi, who in recent months had called for the vote to be postponed because of violence, told CNN he was "relieved" and "encouraged" by a turnout he said was better than expected, even in Fallujah and Mosul.

"What we're seeing here is the voice of freedom," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on ABC's This Week.

The election will create a 275-member National Assembly and 18 provincial legislatures. The assembly will draw up the country's permanent constitution and will select a president and two deputy presidents, who in turn will name a new prime minister and Cabinet to serve for 11 months until new elections are held.

Final results of the election will not be known for seven to 10 days, but a preliminary tally could come as early as late tonight.

Voter turnout

IRAQ'S independent electoral commission said it estimated that about eight million people took part in yesterday's landmark election - or roughly 60% of registered voters.

However, Adel Lami cautioned that the figures were preliminary and based on raw estimates from local officials. "These estimates are based on human flow at their polling stations."

Before polls closed, Lami had said that an estimated 72% of registered voters had turned out, although making clear that the figures did not include the restive Sunni majority provinces of Al-Anbar in the west and Nineveh in the north.

The initial figures included surprisingly high voter numbers around central Iraq where the rebels have carried out attack after attack. In Diyala province, 50% of registered voters had turned out; 60% in Salahuddin; 60% in the province of Tamim where the oil centre of Kirkuk is located. In figures for the capital, 65% voted in Baghdad's eastern Rusafa district and 95% in the eastern Karkh district.

Among Iraqi expatriates, an estimated two-thirds of registered voters had cast their ballots over two days of a three-day vote in 14 countries.