|
BAGHDAD, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraqis cast their
ballots Saturday in the country's landmark referendum on a draft constitution
amid tightened security.
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Prime Minister Ibrahim
al-Jaafari cast their votes early Saturday in the heavily fortified Green Zone
in central Baghdad, which houses Iraqi government offices and the US Embassy.
|
|
| An Iraqi electoral workers puts his
hand on a box with ballots as they are delivered in Baquba, Iraq Oct. 14.
(Reuters) | A few people
were seen heading in the early hours to Baghdad's voting stations as Iraqi
security forces heavily guarded the streets.
Up to 15 million people are expected to participate
in the vote. Advocates hope the constitution will unite the country, but Iraqis
are divided on the draft document, which has seen repeated revisions.
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.
|
|
| US soldiers talk with an Iraqi boy
beside their Bradley fighting vehicle as their unit escorts Iraqi army
soldiers to polling stations to perform shift changes for soldiers
currently guarding the sites in Baghdad. (AFP) |
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.
Talabani, a Kurd, and al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim,
made a television speech late Friday, calling for a "yes" vote in the
referendum.
Talabani also called on the Sunni Arab insurgents to
lay down their arms and join the political process.
Most of Iraq's Shiites, about 60 percent of an
estimated 27 million population, were expected to approve the charter,
especially after Shiite spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani called
on followers to do so.
At the same time, Iraqis in the Sunni-dominated
Salahudin province will possibly say "No" in the referendum, some residents told
Xinhua on Friday.
|
|
| Under the cover of darkness, US
soldiers lay concrete barriers at Iraqi polling sites in advance of the
upcoming referendum in an effort to help ward off attacks at the sites in
Baghdad Oct. 12.
(AFP) | "We insist on
participating in the referendum to veto the draft," said Umer Hammash, a
resident in the provincial town of Dhuluiyah.
"We will be human shields for the voting centers
tonight, and we will go there after sunset to stay and protect the centers from
whoever want to prevent the Sunnis from defeating the draft," he said.
Salahudin is one of the three main Sunni Arab
provinces which are expected to veto the constitution if most of the more than
500,000 constituents said "No" to the draft.
On the eve of the referendum, streets in the main
cities of the province were blocked by barricades for Saturday's referendum.
"The security operation would be 100 percent Iraqi,
and we had experience from the past elections this year," Brigadier Issa Abd
Muhmoud, head of the US-Iraqi Joint Coordination Center in Tikrit,told Xinhua.
|
|
| An elderly Iraqi woman shows an ink
colored finger, confirming she has cast her vote, in Iraq's constitution
referendum Oct. 15. (AP) |
Deputy Governor of Salahudin Abdullah Hussein Jebara
was keen to say "No."
"It is the beginning to divide Iraq and waste its
wealth," he argued.
Jebara said some 249 voting centers across the
province have received their ballot boxes. Moreover, there are mobile voting
centers touring in remote areas in the province where it would be difficult for
residents to vote.
Residents of the mainly Sunni province were furious
on Friday after the Iraqi Islamic Party, a leading Sunni party, called on Sunni
Arabs to vote "Yes."
"The leadership of the party behaved against the
Iraqi interest which disappointed many of the party's members," said Abdullah
Abdul Rahman, a member of the party.
Despite pressure from Sunni Iraqis who oppose the
charter, Salahudin Governor Hamad Hemood al-Qaissi still showed optimism.
"The province is ready for the referendum and I call
on our people to actively participate," Qaissi told Xinhua.
"I support every word of the draft constitution,"
Qaissi said.
Sunni Arabs account for 80 percent of the province's
population,plus the Turkman minority whose political leader in Tuz Khurmato said
his people would reject the draft.
On the night before the vote, most parts of the
Baghdad region were shut down by insurgent saboteurs.
Mahmoud al-Saaedi, spokesman of the Iraqi electricity
ministry,said the insurgents attacked powerlines from the capital to the
northern towns of Kirkuk and Baiji.
The blackout set in shortly after dusk, leaving the
city cloaked in darkness except for a few scattered glimmering dots of light.
Several hours later, power supply began slowly returning to the city.
Also on Friday, the White House hailed the upcoming
referendum, describing it as "a historic moment in the history of Iraq."
"It is a hopeful moment for the entire region," White
House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Enditem | 
Breaking
News 
