Death toll climbs to 17 in spate of Baghdad blasts

[March 04, 2010]  BAGHDAD (AP) -- A string of blasts across the Iraqi capital targeting voters killed 17 people Thursday, authorities said, ratcheting up fear in an already tense city as many Iraqis cast early ballots ahead of Sunday's nationwide parliamentary elections.

Insurgents have repeatedly threatened to use violence to disrupt the elections, which will help determine who will oversee the country as U.S. forces go home and whether the country can overcome its deep sectarian divides. Two of Thursday's blasts hit voters outside polling stations.

"Terrorists wanted to hamper the elections, thus they started to blow themselves up in the streets," said Deputy Interior Minister Ayden Khalid Qader, who's responsible for election-related security across the country.

He said that because the bombers were not able to reach polling places due to security measures, they were targeting voters on their way to polling centers. Many of the victims were believed to be security personnel -- the main group to cast their ballots during early voting since they will be working on election day.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are expected to take part in Thursday's early voting, a one-day session designed for those who might not be able to get to the polls Sunday, when the rest of the country votes.

Early voters also include detainees, hospital patients and medical workers.

The United Nations Assistance Mission to Iraq estimated that between 600,000 and 700,000 people could vote Thursday. About 19 million of Iraq's estimated 28 million people are eligible to vote in the elections, which will see Iraqi expatriates cast ballots in 16 countries around the world.

Three deadly blasts in Baghdad rattled those taking part in early voting.

In the first, a Katyusha rocket killed seven people in the Hurriya neighborhood about 500 yards (meters) from a polling station, police said. The polling station was not open Thursday.

Early reports said the blast had been caused by a bomb hidden in garbage.

The second attack took place in the Mansour neighborhood when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive vest near a group of soldiers lining up to vote at a nearby polling station, killing six people and wounding 18, police said.

In the third blast, another suicide bomber blew himself up near policemen waiting to vote, killing four people and wounding 14 others, according to police and hospital officials.

All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

U.S. and Iraqi officials have warned that insurgents could launch attacks in an attempt to disrupt the vote. On Wednesday, a string of suicide bombings in the city of Baqouba left 32 Iraqis dead.

Sunday's elections are only Iraq's second for a full parliamentary term since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein, leading to the eventual creation of the Shiite-dominated government in power today.

At a high school in Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood, police and military officials crowded in to the building to cast their ballots, then wiped the now-iconic purple ink -- used to prevent people from voting twice -- from their fingers.

Many expressed frustration at the government and a desire for change.

"The people who are in government, they did nothing for the country and if they return to power, they will do nothing again," said Jolan Ali Hossein, a police officer who voted for a little-known independent candidate.

Others said they were excited about being able to vote and help usher in a new political era in Iraq.

"In the past we used to make change through violence. Now we have democracy. We are heading toward it," said Hamza Abbas, another police officer. He declined to say who he was voting for.

Security was tight Thursday, with officials in the western province of Anbar -- once the heartland of the insurgency -- announcing a vehicle ban going into effect Thursday.

Around the country, hundreds of thousands of police and soldiers have been flooding the streets to prevent attacks. The Baghdad airport is slated to be closed election day.

[Associated Press; By REBECCA SANTANA]

Associated Press writers Hamid Ahmed and Hamza Hendawi contributed reporting.

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