Iraq comes to halt on eve of landmark vote

An Iraqi policeman attempts to stop a car that broke a curfew in central Baghdad yesterday one day before the country's general election. Iraq ground to a halt with strict security measures in force on the eve of a landmark election aimed at restoring full sovereignty and stability to the strife-plagued country. PHOTO: AFP

A faint call to prayer drifted across the early morning chill in an almost deserted Baghdad where shops, schools, banks and cafes were closed and most residents stayed home.

A five-day holiday, which began Tuesday as part of security steps, brought an eerie sense of calm to the city of seven million, better known for devastating suicide bombings, drive-by shootings, and grisly kidnappings.

There was almost no traffic in the streets, and just a few people could be seen crossing bridges on foot.

On Thursday, the electorate of 15.5 million people is called to the polls to elect 275 deputies for four-year terms designed to further Iraq's transition to a full democracy and eventually allow US-led forces to withdraw.

Expatriates in 15 countries from Australia to Europe, North America and the Middle East are already casting their ballots in a three-day process that began Tuesday, with voting completed in Iraqi hospitals and prisons Monday.

Many Iraqis and foreign diplomats hope that the first full-term legislature since the 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein will draw disaffected Sunni Arabs back into politics and undermine support for the insurgency.

The Sunni minority boycotted elections in January but more than 1,000 Sunni clerics have pressed members of their community to vote this week in order to maximise their chances of playing power broker in the government.

Choosing a functioning government could, however, take several months, a senior US lawmaker said Tuesday following a White House briefing on the vote.

"The briefers cautioned that given the multiplicity of parties and interests, solidifying a parliamentary government will not be instantaneous," Senator Richard Lugar said.

"They indicated that under some scenarios, the selection of ministers might not be finalized until April."

Iraqis who had already cast ballots in countries like Jordan, Denmark and the United States, expressed their enthusiasm for the process.

"We're doing it for the future of our country. For the future of our kids," said Talib al Bedany, who waved an ink-stained finger after he voted in Skokie, Illinois following a nine-hour trip with 150 other Iraqis from Nebraska.

In equally chilly Denmark, Shiite student Bilal Abdulhadi agreed. "It's a crucial vote for our country, for its future," he said, proudly showing an ink-stained thumb.

Around 1,000 Iraqis voted in Amman and dozens in the United Arab Emirates, where armed guards protected polling stations as men in traditional dress accompanied wives and children to the ballot box.

Iraqi insurgents struck Tuesday ahead of the security clampdown, killing four US soldiers, a police commando, and a businessman working with the US army.

In the heavily damaged western city of Ramadi, a leading local electoral candidate in the Al-Anbar province, Mizher al-Dulaimi, was also killed on Tuesday, the latest victim of political assassinations that have marred campaigning.