SYRIA/JORDAN: Expatriate Iraqis in Syria and Jordan cast early vote in elections

Record ID: 279349

  • Title: SYRIA/JORDAN: Expatriate Iraqis in Syria and Jordan cast early vote in elections
  • Date: 6th March 2010
  • Summary: SAYYDEH ZEINAB, SYRIA (MARCH 5, 2010) (REUTERS) VARIOUS SHOTS IN SAYYDEH ZEINAB STREETS SCENES VARIOUS OF THE POLL CENTRE SHAKER ABED AL-ABBOUD, AN IRAQI REFUGEE ABBOUD AND HIS WIFE HOLDING THEIR PASSPORTS ABBOUD HEADING TO VOTE VARIOUS OF THE VOTING PROCESS ABBOUD'S WIFE CLEANING HER FINGER AFTER VOTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SHAKER ABED AL-ABBOUD, SAYING: "This i
  • Embargoed: 21st March 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6FKULAXS50P8K37EXCVNWS79A
  • Story Text: Thousands of Iraqis living in Syria and Jordan cast an early vote on Friday (March 5) in general elections set to take place in Iraq on Sunday (March 7).
    The voting will continue until March 7 in five polling stations in Beirut and across the country.
    There are 23 poll centres spread out in Syria, twenty of them are in Damascus and its suburbs, two in Aleppo and one in Homs, to serve about one million Iraqis living in the country.
    Shaker Abed al-Abboud, an Iraqi refugee, told Reuters the process was easy and he voted for the same nominee whom he voted for last time.
    "This is the second time I vote and I hope the elections to be honest and clear", Shaker Abed al-Abboud said.
    Polling stations opened their doors across Jordan to welcome Iraqi asylum seekers who started to cast their vote.
    Jordanian authorities imposed heavy security around polling stations and promised to close its eyes on Iraqis without valid residency in a bid to encourage more voters to turn out.
    The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission said it opened 16 election centres in the capital Amman and nearby cities to accommodate nearly 180,000 eligible voters.
    The majority of Iraqis in Jordan are sunnis, who arrived after 2003 and the rise of sectarian violence in the war torn country.
    Most Sunnis boycotted the previous elections as a result of perceived disenfranchisement which fuelled a ferocious insurgency. But many intend to take part in this year's polls, which will be a major test of the fragile sectarian peace and tenuous democracy.
    The election is Iraq's second for a full four-year parliament since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
    Seventeen people were killed in Baghdad on Thursday (March 4) in suicide bombings in various districts.
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