Iraqis passed through security checkpoints and razor-wire cordons to vote yesterday in provincial elections that are considered a crucial test of the nation's stability as US officials consider the pace of troop withdrawals.
Polls opened shortly after dawn after a step-by-step security clampdown across the country, including traffic bans in central Baghdad and other major cities and closure of border crossings and airports.
Voting ended 11 hours later with no reports of major violence, though voters at some polling stations complained that their names did not appear on lists. Balloting was extended for one hour to accommodate voters.
Officials said counting would begin today with preliminary results not expected before Tuesday.
peaceful voting
Although the voting was generally peaceful, a shooting occurred in Baghdad's Sadr City district. Shiite lawmaker Ghufran al-Saidi said a military officer opened fire and injured two people after voters chanted slogans at a polling station.
But Iraq's military spokesman, Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, told Al-Arabiya television that the shooting occurred after some people tried to carry mobile phones through security cordons. One person was killed and one injured, he said.
The reason for the conflicting accounts was not immediately clear.
In Tikrit, about 80 miles (130 kilometres) north of Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded near a polling station, but caused no casualties, said police, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.
A bomb found near a Tikrit voting centre was defused, police added.
no serious injuries
Hundreds of Iraqi Kurds stormed an election office in the disputed northern city of Khanaqin after claiming many of them were not on voting lists. There were no reports of serious injuries. The incident was part of lingering disputes between Kurds and the Arab-run central government over control of the city near the Iranian border.
Signs of the blanket security measures were everywhere. In the Baghdad neighbourhood of Karradah, Iraqi police and army soldiers manned a series of checkpoints - some only 200 yards (metres) apart. Stores were closed and the streets cleared of cars.
Voting ended 11 hours later with no reports of major violence, though voters at some polling stations complained that their names did not appear on lists. Balloting was extended for one hour to accommodate voters.