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KIRKUK,
Kurdistan-Iraq (Reuters) - Kurds voted alongside
Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs, Turkmen and Christians in
Kirkuk on Thursday, divided over the future of the
disputed northern oil city, but sharing a hope for
stability in postwar Iraq.
Typifying Kirkuk's passion and color, Hussein
Garmiyani pricked his finger with a pin before
voting in blood for Iraq's first full-term
parliament since Saddam Hussein's fall in 2003.
"These past years were all years of blood and I
signed for freedom with my blood," said the Kurd in
traditional costume.
He said he had been a victim of Saddam's Anfal
campaign against the Kurds in the late 1980s and
that he had voted for the main Kurdish alliance,
which took around 25 percent of the vote in
January's poll for an interim assembly.
Kurdish politicians hope to win three to five of the
nine parliamentary seats in Kirkuk's Ta'mim
province.
In Altun Kopri, a village about 30 km (19 miles)
northwest of Kirkuk near Kurdistan, scores of
children waved Kurdish flags while their parents
patiently queued to vote.
"The insurgency will reduce after the vote, all the
problems will get solved," said Sangar Sami, 18, who
stood with a Kurdish flag draped over his shoulder
before voting for the Kurdish alliance headed by
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
Kirkuk is a flashpoint of Iraq's ethnic and
sectarian splits, with each of its diverse
communities claiming rights to it.
Sunni Arabs in Kirkuk said their once-dominant
minority's boycott of the January election had been
an error which meant they had little say in writing
the new constitution, tailored to the wishes of the
Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government.
"Sunni Arabs committed a big mistake in boycotting
the previous election," said first-time voter Talal
Ali, 25.
He said he had voted for the Iraqi Accordance Front,
made up of three Islamist parties, because "it
represents all Sunnis."
Sixty-year-old Sunni Arab voter Asmael Nouri said:
"This is the first time I taste freedom and
expression of opinion."
It was a sentiment echoed by Yasen Abdulrahman, a
32-year-old Sunni Arab engineer who said he had
voted for Saleh al-Mutlak's nationalist Front for
National Dialogue, which supports non-violent
opposition to the U.S. presence.
"It's a remarkable feeling to make your own
decision," he said. "I voted for Saleh al-Mutlak's
list as it's non-sectarian."
Kurds want Kirkuk included in their autonomous
region of Kurdistan, a demand fiercely opposed by
Arabs, many of whom were settled there by Saddam to
replace Kurds and Turkmen he had expelled under a
deliberate Arabisation policy.
Ghanema Hhassan, a 20-year-old college student, said
she had voted for the local Arab Gathering list
because its slogan was "Kirkuk will stay Arab for
ever."
Support was also widespread for the United Iraqi
Alliance, the main Shi'ite bloc in parliament.
Other voters favored the secular list of former
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who some Western
officials have said could emerge as a compromise
leader of the next government.
"I voted for Iyad Allawi because he is trustworthy
and the strongman who will save Iraq," said
38-year-old Arab Merwan Salam.
Reuters
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