Iraq closes all borders

2005-01-29 13:37

Baghdad - Iraq closed its borders on Saturday and sent tens of thousands of security forces on to the streets to stifle insurgent attacks but could not stop the bloodshed in the final hours before the country's historic election.

Cities were like ghost towns as most of the population waited nervously at home to see if it would be safe enough to take part in the first election since the ousting of dictator Saddam Hussein by United States-led forces in April 2003.

A suicide bomber in Khanaqin killed at least five people and six Iraqi police died in rebel attacks while polling stations across the country faced bomb and sniper attacks.

Iraq's land borders and Baghdad airport were closed for three days as authorities sought to counter threats by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who has replaced Saddam as Iraq's most feared man, to wreck the election.

A dusk-to-dawn curfew was slapped on most of the country and travel restrictions enforced.

Attacks stepped up

Insurgents have stepped up attacks on political parties, security forces and civilians in the run-up to the vote, the first multi-party election in more than half a century.

The heightened tension was seen in a gunbattle that erupted in central Baghdad close to the highly protected Green Zone. Iraqi army troops fired volleys of gunfire in several directions.

Five US soldiers and six Iraqis were killed in a string of attacks on Friday and US and Iraqi forces fought with insurgents in the notorious Haifa Street district into the night.

But the turnout in Iraq will be critical in establishing the credibility of the election that could see the majority Shiite Muslim community take a leading role in ruling an Arab country for the first time in centuries.

Despite the war-like atmosphere of blast walls, razor wire and rattling army vehicles patrolling empty streets, many Iraqis were upbeat about choosing a national assembly to write a new constitution.

The United States, which invaded in March 2003, and Iraqi officials are banking on a high turnout by the Shiites and long-suffering Kurds to endow the country's first free election in five decades with legitimacy.

US President George W Bush, whose decision to invade sparked deep divisions and resentment around the world, called on Iraqis to vote and "serve as a powerful example to reformers throughout the entire Middle East."

The Iraqi election commission on Friday predicted a 57% national turnout.

The pivotal test for the election will be the central and northern Sunni Muslim regions, where an entrenched insurgency, rooted deep in the population, has vowed to ruin the January 30 polls.

Many Sunni leaders have called for a boycott of the poll and death threats against voters and candidates have also weighed heavily on the campaign.

- AFP