Iraq voters seen approving constitution

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http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1220673

Rice Says Iraqis `Probably' Approved Constitution

Voter turnout was about 63 or 64 percent, and about one million more people participated than in the January elections that created a temporary national assembly, Rice said. The largest increases were in areas populated predominantly by Sunnis, whose leaders opposed the charter. There was a slight decrease in Kurdish participation, she said.
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Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on NBC's ``Meet the Press'' that the constitution is ``divisive,'' and that whether it is approved or rejected, ``the key political issues, including the question of how much political autonomy there will be, remain unsettled. And that means if the constitution passes, they are back to the drawing board.''

Pace cautioned against expecting that a successful referendum would have much immediate impact on either the largely Sunni Arab insurgency or the foreign al-Qaeda fighters under the leadership of Abu Musab Al-Zarqwai.

``It's not going to happen overnight,'' Pace said in an interview following the National Italian American Foundation dinner in Washington. ``There is going to be another election so it's a step by step process.''

The conflict in Iraq has grown increasingly unpopular in the U.S., according to national polls. An Oct. 6-10 survey by the independent Pew Center for the People and the Press in Washington found half the public said using military force in Iraq was the ``wrong decision'' and 53 percent say the effort is not going well.

With the five deaths yesterday in Ramadi, the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq reached at least 1,959, according to Pentagon figures.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=a1ZZ41jwcU6A&refer=us

Arab Shiites let off celebratory gunfire and danced in the streets of Baghdad after the polls closed, anticipating what they believed was certain approval of the country's first constitution since the fall of Saddam's regime.

"Our constitution has been approved, down with the Baathists!" chanted one joyful crowd, referring to members of Saddam's disbanded political party.

Shiites and Kurds, who were persecuted during Saddam's rule, were expected to vote overwhelmingly for the draft.

But many of the Sunni minority fear domination by an alliance of Shiites and Kurds.

Sunnis were among the most enthusiastic participants, swarming to polling centres, despite fears they would stage another boycott and effectively render the vote invalid.

Results should be known by tomorrow, chief electoral official Adil al-Lami said.

According to a preliminary estimate, more than 61 per cent of registered voters cast ballots.

The vote comes just days ahead of the trial of Saddam, who is due to face a Baghdad courtroom on Wednesday over a 1982 massacre that could see him sentenced to death.

According to a report yesterday, Iraq's former deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz is preparing to testify against his old boss, although not until a later stage.

Mr Aziz, 69, will have the most serious charges against him dropped and be allowed to spend the rest of his life in exile, where he plans to write his autobiography, Britain's Sunday Telegraph newspaper said, quoting Mr Aziz's lawyer.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16936840%255E663,00.html

TWO BIG "NO" VOTES

Shi'ites and their Kurdish allies make up three quarters of Iraq's population, but because of the veto clause it was still possible for Sunni Arabs to block the constitution if they mustered enough "No" votes in three provinces.

Two provinces look set to clear that hurdle, including Saddam's home region of Salahaddin around Tikrit and Samarra, where an election official reported a "No" vote of 70 percent.

In Falluja, where thousands of insurgents battled U.S. troops a year ago, some 90 percent of registered voters turned out, local election chief Saadullah al-Rawi told Reuters, and 99 percent of them voted "No" to a constitution that Sunni leaders say may tear Iraq into powerful Shi'ite and Kurdish regions.

Overall figures from other cities in Anbar province, where Falluja lies, were not available but turnout was expected to be low due to fighting and fear of fighting during Saturday's vote.

With Anbar and Salahaddin looking likely to return blocking "No" results, eyes were on Mosul, northern capital of Nineveh province and a city divided sharply between Sunni Arabs and Kurds, as well as on mixed Diyala province, east of Baghdad.

However, partial counts indicated there was little chance of a big rejection in Nineveh, a senior government source said.

With the count in from most polling stations, votes in favour were leading by a big margin. Even a solid "No" from remaining areas, most of which were predominantly Arab, would not turn it around, the source said. Kurdish leaders have denied Arab accusations of packing Mosul with Kurdish voters.

Diyala, with a Sunni population of about 40 percent, seemed unlikely to return a "No" vote big enough to block the charter.

South of the capital, despite some surprisingly strong rejection by nationalist followers of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, pro-constitution votes were clearly ascendant.

In the provinces of Najaf and Kerbala, local officials said the constitution was approved by about 85 percent.

Elaborate security measures prevented big insurgent attacks on voting day, with only scattered strikes reported across Iraq after months of bloodshed in which thousands have been killed.

Election officials said partial official results from the vote could be available as early as Sunday, but that it would take several days for the verdict to become totally clear.

NEW ELECTION

If the constitution passes Iraq will go to the polls again in December to elect a new, four-year parliament in a step that Washington says will mark its full emergence as a sovereign democracy and new Western ally.

A "No" vote would force the country's feuding factions back to the drawing board, limiting December's election to a new interim assembly and government to redraft the charter.

Despite the uncertainty, Saturday's referendum won praise from the United Nations and the Bush administration.

The White House praised the large turnout and the relative calm compared to the January election of an interim parliament when more than 40 people were killed in more than 100 insurgent attacks, including suicide bombings.

"It appears that the level of violence was well below the last election," White House spokesman Allen Abney said.

"Today's vote deals a severe blow to the ambitions of the terrorists and sends a clear message to the world that the people of Iraq will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgencies," he added.