Counting begins after Iraqis throng to polls

Baghdad - Votes were being counted after Iraq's legislative election saw a strong turnout with minimal violence, bringing hope for a nation wracked by sectarian conflict, with the prospect also of tempting minority Sunnis back to the political process.

Electoral officials briefly extended Thursday's voting owing to the turnout, which preliminary estimates put at between 60 and 80 percent, surpassing an October referendum, with Sunni Arabs casting ballots in record numbers.

"Turnout was very strong in all regions, even in Fallujah," a Sunni city in the rebel Al-Anbar province, senior electoral official Hussein Hindawi said.

The huge task of counting votes had already begun in some Baghdad polling stations, as the commission announced that final results would be released in around two weeks.

Global leaders hailed the landmark vote. US President George W. Bush called the election a major step towards building democracy in the war-torn country and bringing US troops home.

"This is a major step forward in achieving our objective, which is having a democratic Iraq, a country able to sustain itself and defend itself," he said.

Strict security was enforced as 15.5 million Iraqis were called to vote for a four-year, 275-member parliament, with top candidates pledging to restore stability and pave the way for an exit of foreign forces.

Amid the security lockdown however, four people died in attacks, while mortar strikes in Baghdad, including one against the fortified Green Zone claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group, wounded four civilians and a US marine.

"This is our day of victory. They will not drive us back to our homes. This is the end of terrorism," said Safia Mohammed, a Shiite voter reacting to an explosion in the capital.

"It's a national celebration for all Iraqis," declared President Jalal Talabani, the country's first Kurdish head of state.

The voting was in marked contrast to January elections, when only a small number of Sunni Arabs trickled to the polls, leaving them under-represented in a transitional parliament.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was among those who hailed the election as a "great" and "historic" event that allowed Iraqis to envisage a brighter future.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard on Friday hailed the large turnout as vindication of the US-led invasion of the country, to which Australia contributed troops.

"I am encouraged, even inspired, by the huge turnout," Howard told reporters in Sydney.

"If this election turns out to be successful then that will represent a real milestone in the progress towards developing an entrenched democracy in Iraq.

"It is a vindication of the efforts to bring democracy to Iraq and a vindication of the (US-led) coalition's aims," he said.

Howard refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of the 900 Australian troops in Iraq, saying they would remain until "Iraq is secure and can defend itself".

The vote, the third this year, marked a new start following the US-led invasion in March 2003 to oust Saddam Hussein, two transitional governments and the adoption of a constitution in October.

Iraqis, the elderly and infirm included, walked to the polling stations because of a vehicle ban aimed at curbing car bomb attacks.

Disabled men in wheelchairs and on crutches joined neighbours to cast their ballots, with many voters demanding security and the restoration of public services such as electricity and water.

In the holy city of Najaf and the southern port of Basra, residents celebrated an anticipated victory for the dominant religious Shiite group, the United Iraqi Alliance.

A total of 7,655 candidates and 307 political entities, nearly triple the number that stood in January, competed for parliamentary seats.

A rare glitch was reported in Fallujah, where some polling stations ran out of ballots amid the higher-than-expected turnout.

Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi, tipped by many as the next prime minister, pledged that the next parliament would "represent all Iraqis".

One of its primary goals will be to establish stability and allow US-led troops to return home.

The costly 2003 invasion and its aftermath has killed around 2,155 US soldiers. Bush admitted Wednesday that the war had been based on faulty intelligence after estimating that 30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed.

Virtually all Iraq's police and army troops were mobilized Thursday amid purported Al-Qaeda threats to "ruin the 'democratic' wedding".

Shiites and Kurds who dominated the transitional administration sought to confirm positions of power after decades of oppression, while Sunnis were keen to forestall a government beholden to Shiite clerics and a break-up of Iraq into autonomous Kurdish and Shiite zones.

Former prime minister Iyad Allawi, the leading secular Shiite candidate, scored highest at a VIP polling station in the Green Zone, taking 40.36 percent in a result electoral officials stressed could not be considered representative nationwide.

The new parliament will appoint a president and two vice presidents. The presidential council will then have 15 days to name a prime minister, who has 30 days to form a cabinet with parliamentary approval.

On Tuesday, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar warned that an operational government might not be finalised until April. -- Associated Press

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