Home>News Center>World
         
 

Millions of Iraqis vote in relative peace
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-16 08:31

Many Shiite politicians have little interest in concessions to Sunnis on their key demands, including a greater share of power and allowing a role for Saddam loyalists in public life.

As a result, negotiations to create a new government — including a prime minister — could drag on for weeks just as they did following January's election, when many Sunnis stayed away from the polls because of threats of violence or to honor boycott calls. Another prolonged political struggle might worsen sectarian tensions.

Still, Iraqi leaders expressed relief that the election had passed relatively smoothly.

Millions of Iraqis vote in relative peace
Iraqi residents show their stained fingers after voting during Iraq's historical parliamentary elections in the Iraqi city of Diwaniya, 180km (112 miles) south of Baghdad, December 15, 2005. [Reuters]
"The time has come to build Iraq with our own hands and to use the great wealth that God has granted to Iraq to rebuild Iraq so that we can turn our poverty into wealth and our misery into happiness," Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said.

U.S. officials saw the lack of violence as an encouraging sign.

"We should expect the insurgency not to just go away, but to gradually reduce," said Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, speaking via video to a town hall-style meeting of Defense Department workers at the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld added, "This election constitutes a defeat for the enemies of the Iraqi people, the enemies of the legitimate Iraqi government. It constitutes a defeat to the people who have been doing the beheadings and conducting the suicide raids."

As polls opened, a mortar shell exploded near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, slightly wounding two civilians and a U.S. Marine, the U.S. military said.

In northern Iraq, a civilian was killed when a mortar shell hit near a polling station in Tal Afar, and a grenade killed a school guard near a voting site in Mosul.

Turnout was most striking in Sunni Arab areas, including the Baghdad district of Azamiyah. Last January, few voters turned out in Azamiyah, where Saddam took refuge when Baghdad fell.

Tareg Moustafa Abdullah, 70, said he regretted boycotting the January election, which allowed Shiites and Kurds to win control. "We ended up with people who do not know God," he said.

Millions of Iraqis vote in relative peace
An Iraqi woman waits to vote at a polling station in the Iraqi town of Fallujah Thursday Dec. 15, 2005.[AP]
In Fallujah, the former Sunni insurgent bastion seized by U.S. forces in November 2004, 11 of the city's 35 polling stations did not receive ballot boxes, while some sites ran out of ballots in the morning, said Mayor Dhari al-Arsan.

He said some voters "thought it was done purposely," but he attributed the lack of ballot boxes to the large turnout. "Today we are witnessing the biggest democratic process," al-Arsan said.

Election commission spokesman Farid Ayar said officials opened only 167 of the planned 207 election centers in Anbar province because of security. Anbar includes Ramadi and Fallujah.

Turnout was also reported high across the Shiite south, including Basra, where the director of one polling center, Amjad Mahdi, estimated more than 70 percent of the 5,000 registered voters at his facility had cast ballots.

With a nationwide vehicle ban in effect, most Iraqis walked to the polls. Streets were generally empty of cars, except for police, ambulances and a few others with permits.

Ethnic tensions arose in Kirkuk, a northern city claimed by Arabs, Kurds and Turkomen. Norjan Adel, a poll watcher for the Turkoman Front, complained of irregularities by the Kurds, including multiple voting.

   上一頁 1 2 下一頁  



USS Park Royal crew await for Rice
Coffin of Milosevic flew to Belgrade
Kidnapping spree in Gaza Strip
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  Journalist's alleged killers held in Iraq
   
  No poisons found in Milosevic's body
   
  US, Britain, France upbeat on Iran agreement
   
  Fatah officials call for Abbas to resign
   
  Sectarian violence increases in Iraq
   
  US support for troops in Iraq hits new low
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: t66y最新地址| 欧美成人18性| 日本媚薬痉挛在线观看免费| 国产日韩精品视频| 中文字幕一区二区三区视频在线 | 欧美福利在线播放| 国产亚洲美女精品久久久久| mhsy8888| 成人韩免费网站| 亚洲伊人久久大香线蕉综合图片| 美女胸又大又黄又www的网站 | 久久无码精品一区二区三区| 男女一进一出猛进式抽搐视频| 日本a∨在线观看| 亚洲精品第一国产综合精品| 韩国精品福利一区二区三区| 天堂在线www天堂中文在线| 久久精品无码免费不卡| 男人女人做a视频| 国产又污又爽又色的网站| 99国产欧美久久久精品| 日本在线观看成人小视频| 亚洲欧美日韩综合久久久久| 老司机亚洲精品影视www| www夜插内射视频网站| 欧美一区视频在线| 午夜精品福利在线| www日本xxx| 波多野结衣一区二区三区88| 国产成人精品怡红院在线观看| www.henhenai| 成人做受视频试看60秒| 久久这里只有精品66| 激情另类小说区图片区视频区| 国产主播精品福利19禁vip| 2020天天干| 好日子在线观看视频大全免费| 久久午夜无码鲁丝片秋霞| 欧美日韩国产片| 北岛玲在线一区二区| 亚洲偷自精品三十六区|