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Bomb kills 4 US soldiers in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-14 08:44 Iraqis living outside the country began voting Tuesday in the United States
and 14 other countries.
"We are very happy. This is the day for our generation," Nusredin Kestay said
as he prepared to vote in Nashville, Tenn. "We can talk now and say what we
want."
Ali al-Lami, executive director of the Iraqi Electoral Commission, appealed
for peace Thursday, when about 15 million people will be eligible to vote in
more than 6,200 polling stations across Iraq.
Many Sunnis boycotted the January election, enabling rival Shiites and Kurds
to win most of the parliamentary seats 錕斤拷 a development that sharpened communal
tensions and fueled the insurgency.
In an encouraging sign, more than 1,000 Sunni clerics issued a religious
edict, or a fatwa, on Tuesday urging their followers to vote.
"We hope, God willing, that Iraqis will not miss the opportunity to vote and
to avoid being marginalized," Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie said on
Al-Arabiya television.
While some prominent clerics with links to the insurgency have avoided
calling on their followers to vote, the edict is likely to encourage many Sunnis
to go to the polls.
"I appreciate the statements made by political and religious leaders calling
on Sunni Arabs to participate and on insurgents to cease military operations,"
Ambassador Khalilzad told reporters. "I believe that the next government will be
more representative."
On prisoner abuse, the ambassador said "over 100" of the detainees found last
month at an Interior Ministry jail in Baghdad's Jadriyah district were suffering
signs of abuse. An additional "21 or 26 people" were found three days ago at
another Interior Ministry lockup, he said.
Khalilzad said the United States would "accelerate the investigation" to
determine who was responsible for abuses 錕斤拷 a longtime Sunni Arab demand.
The Islamic Army in Iraq, a prominent insurgent group, said Tuesday it would
not attack polling stations. But it vowed to continue its war against U.S.-led
coalition forces.
"To the heroes of the Islamic Army in Iraq: Orders have been issued to avoid
polling stations centers to preserve the blood of innocent people," the
statement posted on an Islamist Web site said. However, the group said the order
did not signal "our support for the political process."
On Monday, five Islamic militant groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, also
promised not to try to disrupt the voting, even though it branded the election a
"satanic project."
Coalition and Iraqi forces will be out in strength Thursday to protect
voters. Borders and airports have been closed, the nighttime curfew extended and
use of private vehicles has been banned during the balloting.
In the northern city of Mosul, bomb-sniffing dogs checked polling stations
Tuesday for explosives. Once the sites were deemed secure, Iraqi police took
control of the buildings while U.S. troops placed concrete barriers on nearby
roads.
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