If there is a reliable hard core to the support for Saddam Hussein among ordinary Iraqis, it is here on the baking flatlands of north-central Iraq, where the Iraqi leader was born.

So it was no surprise today that officials of the Ministry of Information provided a fleet of buses to bring foreign reporters 110 miles from Baghdad to watch Tikritis voting in a referendum on Mr. Hussein's presidency. Under Iraq's Constitution, the referendum serves as an election, but it has only one candidate — Mr. Hussein.

Those marshaled outside polling places here were determined to leave nobody in any doubt as to Mr. Hussein's popularity. Hundreds of Tikritis in a state of near hysteria shouted "Bush, Bush, listen, we love our great leader, President Saddam Hussein."

The crowds gathered in Tikrit appeared to be in a trance, transported by their worship of Mr. Hussein, and by their contempt for President Bush, from the grim realities of everyday life in Iraq to a state of bliss.

Women carrying pins punctured their fingers so they could mark their "yes" votes in blood. Men followed suit, using the blunt edges of paper clips as makeshift knives to start the blood flowing...

Men danced with pistols held above their heads.

A man seized a reporter's notebook to write a personal message. "Every `yes' vote is a bullet in the chest of Bush the father and Bush the son," it said.

Voting is compulsory for all Iraqis over 18, and the ballot gives them a choice between ticking a box marked "yes" and a box marked "no." Official results are expected Wednesday...

With sand blowing on the wind stinging his visitors' faces, another of the Bedouin chiefs, Adil Rezurky, finally closed off the discussion with what amounted to his ace-in-the-hole.

"Of course this is a democratic process," the 60-year-old tribal chief said. "Iraqis know Saddam Hussein to be one of the great leaders of the world, so what reason would they have not to choose him? With a leader such as this, how could Iraqis want to say anything but yes?"