Kurds Stage Unofficial Independence Vote
Organisers of poll fear Iraqi Kurdistan will lose its autonomy if local leaders become too deeply embroiled in Baghdad politics.
Organisers of poll fear Iraqi Kurdistan will lose its autonomy if local leaders become too deeply embroiled in Baghdad politics.
Attacks against polling stations appear to have failed to deter much of the capital’s electorate.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s call for Shia to vote brought out many of the old and frail.
Insurgents shoot off voters’ ink-stained fingers in Baaqubah.
Parties in Iraqi Kurdistan accuse each other of election fraud.
Following an election in which turnout seems to have been unexpectedly high, people’s minds are already turning to the new National Assembly.
Electoral officials estimate 60 per cent turnout as polling stations sift and collate two sets of election results.
By Ghassan Ali in Karbala (ICR No. 108, 01-Feb-05)
By Hussein Ali al-Yasiry in Diwaniyah (ICR No. 108, 01-Feb-05)