Iraq's provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence. Polls closed at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday -- an hour later than planned -- after millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq. There were no reports of major violence.
Iraqi authorities imposed a huge security operation around the country that included traffic bans in major cities and extensive checkpoints and surveillance posts. The U.S. military also was out in force but did not take a direct role in the election security.
Results from the elections are not expected before Tuesday.
Polls opened shortly after dawn after a step-by-step security clampdown across the country, including traffic bans in central Baghdad and other major cities and closure of border crossings and airports. Iraqis passed through security checkpoints and razor-wire cordons to vote Saturday in provincial elections that are considered a crucial test of the nation's stability as U.S. officials weigh the pace of troop withdrawals.
Though there was no major violence during voting, there were some disruptions at the polls. A Kurdish official said hundreds of Iraqi Kurds stormed an election office in a disputed city after claiming many Kurds were not on voting lists for provincial elections. There were no reports of serious injuries.
The protest in Khanaqin on Saturday is part of lingering disputes over control of the city about 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. In August, Kurdish and Iraqi forces were locked in a tense standoff before the Kurds backed off.
Salahuddin Kekhaa, a Kurdish official in Khanaqin, says Kurds held a rally to claim that thousands of Kurds were left off voting list. Then they tried to break into the local election office but were turned back, he said
Ghufran al-Saidi, a Shiite lawmaker in the Sadr City district, said a military officer opened fire in Baghdad after voters chanted slogans at a polling station. He said two people were injured, one of them seriously.
Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, told Al-Arabiya television that one person was killed and one injured after some people tried to carry mobile phones through security cordons.
The reason for the conflicting accounts was not immediately clear.
In Tikrit, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded near a polling station, but caused no casualties, said police, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. A bomb found near a Tikrit voting center was defused, police added.
In the Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah, Iraqi police and army soldiers manned a series of checkpoints -- some only 200 yards apart. Stores were closed and the streets cleared of cars.
A group of U.S. soldiers patrolled on foot, but well away from polling centers. The U.S. military assisted in security preparations for the elections, but said troops would only be called in on election day if needed.
In the western city of Fallujah -- once a center of the Sunni insurgency -- police used their patrol cars to help some people get to voting stations.
More than 14,000 candidates are running for 440 seats on the influential councils in all of Iraq's provinces except for the autonomous Kurdish region in the north and the province that includes oil-rich Kirkuk, where ethnic groups were unable to reach a power-sharing formula. Polls were to close at 5 p.m. Preliminary results are not expected before Tuesday.
Voters headed home waved their purple-tinted index fingers, which are dipped in ink to identify people who already cast ballots. The ink-stained fingers became an iconic image of Iraq's first post-Saddam Hussein elections four years ago.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, shadowed by a bodyguard, dipped his finger into an ink box after voting in the walled Green Zone enclave in Baghdad.
He appealed for a high turnout -- which would help boost his government's attempts to use the election as a sign of progress. "This gives a picture of trust in the government, the elections and the people's right to take part in this democratic process," he said.
Although violence is sharply down -- and with pre-election attacks relatively limited -- authorities were unwilling to take any risks.
An election without major attacks or charges of irregularities would provide a critical boost for Iraqi authorities as the U.S. military hands over more security responsibilities. But serious bloodshed or voting chaos could steal momentum from supporters of a fast-paced withdrawal of U.S. combat troops next year.
The provincial councils have no direct sway in national affairs, but carry significant authority through their ability to negotiate local business deals, allocate funds and control some regional security operations.
This election is also a possible dress rehearsal for bigger showdowns in national elections later this year, when the U.S.-allied government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could face a power challenge from the country's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
In Baqouba, the capital of the violence-wracked Diyala Province northwest of Baghdad, long lines formed. "We were not able to vote during the 2005 elections because of the deteriorating security situation," said Ahmed Jassim, 19. "But now we feel safe enough to go out and vote."
Iraqi special forces in full combat gear patrolled streets in Baghdad's Fadhil district, which was once a hub in the Sunni insurgents' car bomb network. The tense atmosphere there contrasted with the more relaxed mood in other parts of the city.
In Baghdad's Azamiyah neighborhood -- once a stronghold of support for Saddam Hussein's regime -- a voting station at a girls' high school still carried a small image of Saddam, calling him the nation's "hero and martyr."
But one voter, Zaid Abdul-Karim, 44, said the elections will hopefully ease tensions between Shiites who gained power by Saddam's downfall and Sunnis who perceive themselves as sidelined since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "These are the people we need now: people who represent everyone in Iraq and have no sectarian bias," said Abdul-Karim, a government employee.
In the southern Shiite city of Basra, 40-year-old Haidar Mahmoud said he felt pressure to vote for the Supreme Council candidates, but changed his mind and backed al-Maliki's supporters. "If it wasn't for al-Maliki there would still be killing on the street. Maybe I can change Basra for the better by voting today," he said.
Among Sunni groups, powerful newcomers could reshape the political hierarchy. In Anbar province, the Sunni tribes which rose up against Al Qaeda and other insurgents -- and led to a turning point of the war -- are now seeking to transform their fame into council seats and significantly increase their role in wider Iraqi affairs. Their gains could come at the expense of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic party in the current government.
A couple who fled to Kuwait in 2004 to escape the violence returned to their northern Baghdad neighborhood to vote Saturday. Salih Zawad Ali and his wife Zeinab looked longingly around the Sulaykh district after casting their ballots. "I hope and pray we can come back," she said.
#1
Hows about that. They hold elections, no major violence and the seeds of democracy continue to germinate and spread the first, still vulnurable roots. You'd think the press and world would applaud. Oh wait...
Iraqi police banned vehicles from Mosul's streets on Friday ahead of Saturday's election, which is the first in three years. Voters go to poll on Saturday to select members of ruling provincial councils here and in most of the country. As a sign of the tension, Mosul residents to stay at home until they are ready to vote the following day. Similar bans were not due to take effect in the rest of the country until late Friday. The measures in Mosul were imposed the day after gunmen assassinated a local Sunni candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A ban on vehicles was announced in the city of Karbala on Friday evening on the eve of the country's local elections, an official source in the province said.
"The ban will be effective as of Friday evening until 10:00 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 31) with the exception of vehicles carrying special badges including journalists'," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The ban is part of a security plan in preparation for the provincial council elections that are due to start at 07:00 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 31)," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces seized a weapons cache in an abandoned house in Falluja on Friday, the city's police chief said.
"A joint force from the 6th Emergency Contingent and the Falluja Police Department seized on Friday (Jan. 30) arms and munitions inside an uninhabited house in the area of Amiriyat al-Falluja based on intelligence tip-offs," Col. Mahmoud al-Issawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The cache contained 11 mortar shells, 13 improvised explosive devices with detonation wires, 24 RPG-7 shells, target-setting field maps, BKC bandoliers and four Kalashnikov assault rifles," Issawi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A ban will be imposed on vehicles all over Thi-Qar as part of tight security measures to protect the course of the local voting process on Saturday while Iraq's Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the start of electoral silence and removal of all electoral banners and stickers, a police official in the province said on Friday.
"The ban will be imposed all over Thi-Qar as of 10:00 p.m. today (Jan. 30) until Saturday (Jan. 31)," Brig. Rasoul Khayoun al-Jabiri, the province's police assistant chief, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Provincial council elections are scheduled to be held in 14 Iraqi provinces on Saturday (Jan. 31).
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Friday clashed with four gunmen suspected of killing a candidate in Mandili district, eastern Baaquba, shooting down one of them and arresting three others, a Diala security source said. "Police forces clashed with four gunmen in a house in the village of Muhammad Malih, south of Mandili district, (55 km) north of Baaquba, arresting three of them and killing a fourth who declined to surrender," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
An official security source in Diala told Aswat al-Iraq earlier on Friday that an armed group suspected of affiliation to al-Qaeda network had intercepted during a late hour of Thursday (Jan. 29) Abbas Farhan, a candidate from the Reform & Development bloc, in a village in Mandili, where he was campaigning, and opened fire at him, killing him instantly along with his brother and cousin who were escorting him.
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01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A gunman who shot down a U.S. soldier and wounded another in the district of Baiji was killed by U.S. army fire on Friday, a police source said. "A gunman from Baiji opened fire on Friday afternoon at U.S. soldiers who were standing in front of al-Rifaie school, which is used as a voting center, in the central part of the district, (35 km) north of Tikrit city, killing one of them and injuring another," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The U.S. soldiers fired back at the gunman, killing him instantly," the source said, adding "the U.S. soldiers arrested the gunman's brother inside his house in central Baiji".
Aswat al-Iraq news agency managed to contact a source within the U.S. forces' Joint Coordination Office who said that "a gunman opened fire at the U.S. servicemen in Baiji district and the U.S. soldiers fired back and shot him down".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"Don't shoot him, you'll just make him mad."
Anybody else know where the quote's from?
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/31/2009 15:48 Comments ||
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#2
Mongo - Blazing Saddles
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 15:53 Comments ||
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#3
Mongo like candy
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 19:27 Comments ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: The Diwaniya Police Department has taken draconian security measures within preparations for the country's local elections, the department chief said on Friday. "Police forces tightened security measures to protect ballot stations and voters on Saturday (Jan. 31) as 15,000 personnel were deployed all over the province of Diwaniya," Brig. Abdelaziz al-Salihi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Enough security forces were sent to ballot stations in the province and all the roads leading to the stations with heaps of dust and barbed wires," Salihi added.
After the inclusion of those born in 1991, the number of voters in Diwaniya province reached 594,000. Candidates in the province are 888, including 238 women, from 57 political entities, six of which are coalitions, vying over 28 seats in the upcoming provincial council of Diwaniya.
Meanwhile, Hassan al-Waeli, the chief of Iraq's Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC)'s office in Diwaniya, said that 10,500 employees will work in 243 election centers distributed over 1,569 stations all over the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
The idea of a free and fair election must scare the bejeebers out of these AQ and Mehdi Army types.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/31/2009 14:33 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Iraq's provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence. Polls closed at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday -- an hour later than planned -- after millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq. There were no reports of major violence.
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Friday clashed with four gunmen suspected of killing a candidate in Mandili district, eastern Baaquba, shooting down one of them and arresting three others, a Diala security source said. "Police forces clashed with four gunmen in a house in the village of Muhammad Malih, south of Mandili district, (55 km) north of Baaquba, arresting three of them and killing a fourth who declined to surrender," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Aswat al-Iraq: A gunman who shot down a U.S. soldier and wounded another in the district of Baiji was killed by U.S. army fire on Friday, a police source said. "A gunman from Baiji opened fire on Friday afternoon at U.S. soldiers who were standing in front of al-Rifaie school, which is used as a voting center, in the central part of the district, (35 km) north of Tikrit city, killing one of them and injuring another," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The U.S. soldiers fired back at the gunman, killing him instantly," the source said, adding "the U.S. soldiers arrested the gunman's brother inside his house in central Baiji".
Aswat al-Iraq: The Diwaniya Police Department has taken draconian security measures within preparations for the country's local elections, the department chief said on Friday. "Police forces tightened security measures to protect ballot stations and voters on Saturday (Jan. 31) as 15,000 personnel were deployed all over the province of Diwaniya," Brig. Abdelaziz al-Salihi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Enough security forces were sent to ballot stations in the province and all the roads leading to the stations with heaps of dust and barbed wires," Salihi added.
