Claims of 72% turnout in Iraq

2005-01-30 16:03

Baghdad - An Iraqi election official claimed on Sunday that 72% of eligible Iraqi voters who had registered had cast ballots so far.

But the official later backtracked and offered conflicting, lower numbers for the turnout.

The official, Adel al-Lami of the Independent Electoral Commission, offered no overall figures of the actual number of Iraqis who have voted as of Sunday afternoon to back up the initial claim.

After being questioned by reporters, he offered lower and conflicting numbers of the percentage of eligible and registered voters who had cast ballots.

Earlier, the top US adviser to commission, Carlos Valenzuela, offered a much more cautious assessment, saying turnout appeared to be high in many areas, but that it was too early to know for sure.

There has been little sign of voters in some heavily Sunni areas, such as the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, according to witnesses.

But Valenzuela said earlier that some voters had shown up in the two cities.

- SAPA