January 30, 2005 - 6:45 AM

Iraq election begins

By Matt Spetalnick

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's first multiparty polls in half a century have begun at dawn, elections intended to unite the
country but which could instead foment sectarian strife and which insurgents have vowed to turn into a bloodbath.

A suicide car bomber attacked an Iraqi security checkpoint protecting a polling station in west Baghdad shortly after
voting began, killing a policeman, police sources said on Sunday.

They said two Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were wounded in the attack near the Zahraa school, used as a voting
centre.

The polls opened on a chilly, dark morning at 7 a.m. (4 a.m. British time) and were due to stay open until 5 p.m. (2
p.m. British time).

President Ghazi al-Yawar was one of the first to cast his vote, inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone
complex. He emerged with one finger of his right hand stained with bright blue ink, used to prevent multiple voting.

Holding a small Iraqi flag handed to him by officials, he told reporters he hoped all Iraqis would follow his lead.

Few Iraqis were heading to the polls early in the day, with many waiting to see whether feared attacks materialised.
In the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf, where support for the polls is strong, a handful of voters were walking to polling centres.

In the Sunni Arab heartland, where many oppose the polls, there was little sign of people voting.

In Samarra, the crackle of gunfire was heard across the city minutes after polls opened. A roadside bomb exploded
near a U.S. patrol but there were no reports of casualties. An F-15 fighter jet roared over the town, which was shrouded
in a chilly mist.

SECURITY LOCKDOWN

To try to prevent violence, Iraq was under security lockdown. Borders were sealed, airports closed and only official
vehicles allowed on the streets after heavy bloodshed on the eve of voting, including a bold rocket strike that killed two
Americans at the U.S. embassy compound in the Green Zone.

Insurgents also killed 17 Iraqis and an American soldier in other attacks across Iraq on Saturday.

The embassy attack deepened fears of a blitz by insurgents on election day and demonstrated their ability to strike
at the heart of the interim government and U.S. power in the vast fortified Green Zone on the west bank of the river
Tigris.

It could also worsen trepidation among Iraq's 14.2 million registered voters about voting in the country's first election
since Saddam Hussein was toppled in a U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

Iraq's 60 percent-majority Shi'ites, oppressed for decades under Saddam, are expected to dominate the polls.
Kurds, who make up nearly a fifth of Iraqis, want a result that enables them to enshrine their autonomous rule in the
north.

Militant groups, including one led by al Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have vowed to bomb "infidel"
polling stations and kill anyone who dares to vote.

"For the last time, we warn that (Sunday) will be bloody for the Christians and Jews and their mercenaries and
whoever takes part in the (election) game of America and Allawi," the Jordanian militant's group said in a statement on
an Islamist Web site, referring to interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Many Iraqis promised to brave the threats, but others were afraid of being targeted when they vote or later, worried
that the indelible ink on their fingers could mark them for death.

U.S. SEES VOTE AS PIVOTAL

Washington hopes the ballot will help transform Iraq from dictatorship to democracy but it risks worsening the
insurgency by further alienating Iraq's 20 percent-minority Sunni Arabs, who formed the backbone of Saddam's ruling
class.

Several Sunni parties are boycotting the polls, saying the insurgency raging in the Sunni heartlands and the
presence of more than 150,000 U.S.-led troops make a fair vote impossible.

Majority Shi'ites, long oppressed under Saddam, are expected to cement their newfound dominance. An alliance
formed under the guidance of the top Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, is almost certain to win the most votes.

Even if an alliance of secular Shi'ites led by Allawi does not do well, he is seen as a possible consensus candidate
to stay in office.

But under-representation of Sunni Arabs could undermine the credibility of a new 275-seat national assembly and
increase the risk of sectarian conflict.

The campaign unfolded in a climate of such intimidation that most candidates kept their names secret and even the
locations of polling places were kept under wraps to the last moment.

Iraq's nascent security forces now face a test of their resolve. Police, Iraqi troops and U.S. soldiers are arrayed in
concentric circles around more than 5,000 polling places.

U.S. and British forces have been ordered to stand back to avoid the impression of Iraqis voting under occupiers'
guns. U.S. troops will have rapid-response teams on standby if needed.

But many Iraqis voiced doubts their security services would be able to protect them when they are themselves under
fire from insurgents who brand them collaborators.

Under pressure to start bringing U.S. troops home after the election, President George W. Bush said their mission
must keep going to help the new government get its footing. "Terrorist violence will not end with the election," he said.