Monday, January 31, 2005

Regional Views of the Iraqi Vote

Daily Star (Lebanon):
Iraqis defy violence to cast historic vote
Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election on Sunday, defying insurgents who killed at least 30 people in a bloody assault on the poll. U.S. President George W. Bush congratulated the people of Iraq on "this great and historic achievement" but cautioned that more hard work lay ahead to turn the nation into a democracy.

Gulf Daily News (Bahrain):
BAGHDAD: Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election yesterday, defying insurgents who killed 37 people in a bloody assault on the poll.

Voters, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots in higher-than-expected numbers in Iraq's first multi-party election in half a century.

Al Ahram (Egypt):
Iraqi voters, caught between the terrifying threats of Abu Musaab Al-Zarqawy and the hollow promises of faceless and nameless candidates, are bracing themselves for an avalanche of attacks.

If they are held, Sunday's elections will be the second step of the transitional phase stipulated by the Interim State Administration Law (IAL), ratified in March 2003. The aim is to elect a national assembly which will then appoint a government, president and prime minister.

The Jerusalem Post (Israel):
Bush: Iraqi elections a success
President George W. Bush called the Iraqi election a resounding success and promised that the United States will help Iraqis fight continuing insurgency as they build a democratic government.