IRAQ: Higher than expected numbers of Sunni Muslim voters appear to have turned out at the polls yesterday in the regions of Iraq that have been worst affected by the insurgency.
Election officials in Baghdad made early claims suggesting more voters than expected in the provinces across central and northern Iraq, where resentment at the US occupation has been strongest.
"The numbers were very good, in contrast to our expectations," said Adil al-Lami, the chief Iraqi electoral officer. Several militant groups had warned Iraqis in these areas not to go to the polls and one Sunni party had withdrawn from the ballot.
There were reports, however, that in some areas election workers were too frightened and polling stations did not open.
A security clampdown, in which private cars were banned on the streets yesterday, meant it was difficult to get a clear picture of the voting in the more dangerous Sunni regions.
In Baghdad there were at least nine suicide bombings, mostly targeted in the western Sunni districts, and yet witnesses spoke of queues of people lining up to vote. In Yarmouk, a wealthy district where many former Ba'athists and army officers have large villas, crowds of voters were seen at some polling stations. "It was just like the days when people were voting for Saddam. There were lots of people in the street going to vote," said Mr Saif Safa'a, a student. "I would say three-quarters of the people in Yarmouk went to the polls. Nobody seemed to care about the resistance."
Even in Falluja, a city half-destroyed by a US assault last November, there were reports of a stream of people turning out to vote. "We want to be like other Iraqis, we don't want to be always in opposition," one voter said.
In Baquba, a mixed Shia-Sunni town north-east of Baghdad, there were reports of crowds going to vote, although several polling stations did not open.
Even in Mosul, a city in the north gripped by violence in the past three months, officials reported voters queuing at the polls. A group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed it was responsible for seven attacks in the city.
Reports from Samarra, another Sunni town north of Baghdad, said there had been several gun battles and few voters.
In Baiji, a Sunni town north of the capital, polling stations were also closed because staff there were too scared to work. - (Guardian Service)