Millions of Iraqis Vote; 35 Die in Attacks

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election Sunday, defying insurgents who killed 35 people in a bloody assault on the poll.
Voters, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots in higher-than-expected numbers in Iraq's first multi-party election in half a century.
Samir Hassan, 32, who lost his leg in a car bomb blast last year, said as he waited to vote in Baghdad: "I would have crawled here if I had to. I don't want terrorists to kill other Iraqis like they tried to kill me."
But in parts of the Sunni Arab heartland, where the insurgency has been bloodiest, many polling stations were empty.
Despite draconian security measures imposed by Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government, militants launched a string of attacks to try to torpedo the polls.
They struck mainly in Baghdad, rocking the capital with nine suicide blasts in rapid succession. The Iraqi wing of al Qaeda, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility.
It had declared war on the election, vowing to kill any "infidel" who voted.
Despite the violence, election officials said the turnout had been above expectations.
They originally put it at 72 percent but later backtracked, saying possibly eight million had voted, which would be a little over 60 percent of registered voters. Election commission spokesman Farid Ayar acknowledged, however, that "the numbers are only guessing."
The government had set a target of at least 50 percent of Iraq's 13 million registered voters as the barometer of success.
After the polls closed, election workers started counting ballots by hand -- in some cases by candlelight due to widespread power outages. Officials expect preliminary results in six to seven days and final results in about 10 days.