BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani cast vote in the country's landmark referendum on a draft constitution in the Green Zone early Saturday.

   Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari also cast ballot at 7:00 a.m. (0400 GMT) in the heavily fortified zone in central Baghdad, which houses Iraqi government offices and the US Embassy.

   "I wish that all Iraqis Arabs, Kurds and others vote 'Yes' to the draft constitution which represents their ambition to build a democratic, federal, united and independent state," Talabani told reporters.

   Talabani criticized some Sunni Arabs by saying that "some of our Sunni Arab brothers wanted to achieve their aspirations by violence rather than the political process."

   A few people were seen heading in the early hours to Baghdad's voting stations as Iraqi security forces heavily guarded the streets.

   "No one appeared at the voting center near my house yet," Hassan, a resident of Mansur district in western Baghdad, told Xinhua.

   Over 6,000 polling stations throughout Iraq opened to about 15.5 million eligible voters out of Iraq's population of 26 million. The poll is expected to end at 5:00 p.m. (1400 GMT).

   According to the timetable of Iraq's political process, new elections will be held by the end of this year to form a new parliament if the charter is approved in the referendum.

   However, if two thirds of voters in any three of the 18 provinces say no in the referendum, the charter will be vetoed and the parliament then dissolved. Enditem