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Early voting begins in Iraq; nine killed
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-12 20:31 The unsigned statement, distributed in the Sunni stronghold of Azamiyah, was
written in a linguistic style used by Islamic extremists.
The statement said Sunnis could use the elections to battle corruption and
make some political gains but that "fighting will continue with the infidels and
their followers."
An empty minibus loaded with explosives blew up Monday near the Kindi
hospital in east Baghdad, killing three civilians and injuring 13, including
five police officers, authorities said. Police Lt. Mohammed Khayoun said the
van's driver abandoned it and ran.
A U.S. soldier was killed Monday in a bombing in Baghdad and another American
soldier attached to the Marines died the day before in a suicide bombing west of
the capital, near the city of Ramadi, the U.S. command said. The deaths brought
to at least 2,144 the number of U.S. military members killed in Iraq since the
war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Police also said a businessman and his 23-year-old son were kidnapped in
Baghdad's upscale Mansour district.
Monday's early voting saw the first of 1,500 patients cast ballots at
Baghdad's central Yarmouk hospital, election officials said.
"The election process is running very well," said Yousif Ibrahim, director of
the election center. "There is a big hall for patients who can easily walk and
the election committee moves a box around to the wards where there are patients
who can't leave their beds."
It was not be the only early voting ahead of general elections.
On Tuesday, the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi voters living outside the country
can begin casting their ballots at polling centers in 15 countries. That voting
also ends Thursday.
Suspected insurgents held in U.S. or Iraqi detention but who have not been
convicted of an offense, are eligible to vote, Iraqi officials said. Saddam ��
who is jailed and facing trial for the deaths of more than 140 Shiites in 1982 ��
also has the right to vote but it was not known whether he would.
Thousands of Iraqi forces will be protecting polling stations, with U.S. and
other coalition troops ready to help in case of a major attack.
Most attention has focused on Sunni Arabs, who largely boycotted the Jan. 30
election to protest the continued U.S. military presence. That enabled the
Shiites and Kurds to dominate parliament, a move that sharpened communal
tensions and fueled the Sunni-dominated insurgency.
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