Iraqis defy intimidation to vote; attacks kill 36

UPDATED:

BAGHDAD — Insurgents bombed a polling station and lobbed grenades at voters Sunday, killing 36 people in attacks aimed at intimidating those taking part in an election that will determine whether the country can overcome the sectarian divisions that have plagued it since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Many Iraqis hope the election will put them on a path toward national reconciliation as the United States prepares to withdraw combat forces by late summer and all troops by the end of next year. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is fighting for his political future with challenges from a coalition of mainly Shi’ite religious groups on one side and a secular alliance combining Shi’ites and Sunnis on the other.

Despite mortars raining down nearby, voters in the capital still came to the polls. In the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Azamiyah in northern Baghdad, Walid Abid, a 40-year-old father of two, was speaking as mortars boomed several hundreds yards away. Police reported at least 20 mortar attacks in the neighborhood shortly after daybreak. Mortars also fell in the Green Zone, home to the U.S. Embassy and the prime minister’s office.

“I am not scared, and I am not going to stay put at home,” said Mr. Abid, who owns a cafe. “Until when? We need to change things. If I stay home and not come to vote, Azamiyah will get worse.”

Polls closed at 5 p.m. as scheduled, and election officials said it could be days before preliminary results are released.

Observers warn the election is only a first step in the political process. With the fractured nature of Iraqi politics, it could take months of negotiations after results are released for a government to be formed.

Speaking to reporters after polls closed, Ad Melkert, the U.N. special representative in Iraq, praised the elections.

“This day has been a triumph of reason over confrontation and violence,” he said. “Iraqis are making history. This day is an important step on the road to national reconciliation.”

Mr. Melkert also said the release of official results would take time and urged Iraqis not to engage in premature speculation about the outcome.

Many view the election as a crossroads where Iraq will decide whether to adhere to politics along the Shi’ite, Sunni and Kurdish lines or move away from the ethnic and sectarian tensions that have emerged since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s iron-fisted, Sunni-minority rule.

Mr. al-Maliki, who has built his reputation as the man who restored order to the country, is facing a tough battle from his former Shi’ite allies, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and a party headed by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

“Al-Maliki gave us security despite all the terror. What more can he do?” said Mariam Omran, a 55-year-old bespectacled mother of four clad in a black chador. “All I want is peace for my country,” she said after voting in the Shi’ite neighborhood of Kazimiyah in northern Baghdad.

President Obama praised Iraqis who took part in the historic vote.

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