Polls Open, Voters File in Across Iraq

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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/sns-ap-iraq-the-vote,0,55705.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

By HAMZA HENDAWI
Associated Press Writer

January 29, 2005, 11:33 PM EST

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Voters trickled into polling stations under tight security Sunday in Iraq, casting ballots despite promises by insurgents to sabotage the country's first free election in a half-century.

Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawer was one of the first to vote at election headquarters in the heavily fortified Green Zone, calling the action his country's first step "toward joining the free world."

Across the nation, the nearly 5,200 polling stations opened on schedule, with workers checking voter identifications and police standing guard.

There were no immediate reports of violence, but an explosion was heard at the U.S. military base at Kirkuk in the north. Scattered small arms fire was heard near another U.S. base near Baghdad's airport.