Bomb kills 4 US soldiers in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-14 08:44

Iraqis living outside the country began voting Tuesday in the United States and 14 other countries.

"We are very happy. This is the day for our generation," Nusredin Kestay said as he prepared to vote in Nashville, Tenn. "We can talk now and say what we want."

Ali al-Lami, executive director of the Iraqi Electoral Commission, appealed for peace Thursday, when about 15 million people will be eligible to vote in more than 6,200 polling stations across Iraq.

Many Sunnis boycotted the January election, enabling rival Shiites and Kurds to win most of the parliamentary seats — a development that sharpened communal tensions and fueled the insurgency.

In an encouraging sign, more than 1,000 Sunni clerics issued a religious edict, or a fatwa, on Tuesday urging their followers to vote.

"We hope, God willing, that Iraqis will not miss the opportunity to vote and to avoid being marginalized," Sheik Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie said on Al-Arabiya television.

While some prominent clerics with links to the insurgency have avoided calling on their followers to vote, the edict is likely to encourage many Sunnis to go to the polls.

"I appreciate the statements made by political and religious leaders calling on Sunni Arabs to participate and on insurgents to cease military operations," Ambassador Khalilzad told reporters. "I believe that the next government will be more representative."

On prisoner abuse, the ambassador said "over 100" of the detainees found last month at an Interior Ministry jail in Baghdad's Jadriyah district were suffering signs of abuse. An additional "21 or 26 people" were found three days ago at another Interior Ministry lockup, he said.

Khalilzad said the United States would "accelerate the investigation" to determine who was responsible for abuses — a longtime Sunni Arab demand.

The Islamic Army in Iraq, a prominent insurgent group, said Tuesday it would not attack polling stations. But it vowed to continue its war against U.S.-led coalition forces.

"To the heroes of the Islamic Army in Iraq: Orders have been issued to avoid polling stations centers to preserve the blood of innocent people," the statement posted on an Islamist Web site said. However, the group said the order did not signal "our support for the political process."

On Monday, five Islamic militant groups, including al-Qaida in Iraq, also promised not to try to disrupt the voting, even though it branded the election a "satanic project."

Coalition and Iraqi forces will be out in strength Thursday to protect voters. Borders and airports have been closed, the nighttime curfew extended and use of private vehicles has been banned during the balloting.

In the northern city of Mosul, bomb-sniffing dogs checked polling stations Tuesday for explosives. Once the sites were deemed secure, Iraqi police took control of the buildings while U.S. troops placed concrete barriers on nearby roads.