15 killed in Iraq, as exiles cast their ballots

Iraqi exiles cast their ballots in a ‘‘vote for freedom’’ on Friday and urged their compatriots in Iraq to do the same. In the US, expatriates defied frigid temperatures and long trips to the polls to cast their votes across the eastern US.

Iraqis in Australia cast the first votes in their homeland’s election on Friday, and celebrated by dancing in the streets. More than 280,000 out of one million eligible Iraqis living abroad have registered to vote. Absentee voting in 14 countries will continue till Sunday. Peter Erben, head of the International Organisation for Migration programme to enable Iraqis abroad to vote, told Reuters that the day ‘‘had so far seen beyond 20 per cent of registered voters casting their ballot as a worldwide average’’. Election officials said between 2,000 and 3,000 people voted today.

Security was tight at most venues, including Jordan, Syria and Turkey. In Iran, the largest centre for registered Iraqi voters abroad, queues formed outside a Tehran polling station.

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Iraq clamped tough security measures on Friday, sealing land borders and curbing travel, but insurgents killed 10 Iraqis and five US soldiers in separate incidents. A US observation helicopter crashed in Baghdad, but there was no word on casualties.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda network issued a fresh warning today against the elections. “Beware, beware not to approach the centres of atheism and of vice,” it said in a statement posted on an Islamic website.

Deputy PM Barham Saleh said authorities are close to arresting al-Zarqawi and have have captured three of his lieutenants.