Iraqis abroad cast their votes

Ballot centers were opened in Asia, Europe, and North America to receive some 280,000 Iraqi eligible voters who are casting their votes in the first legislative elections since the fall of the government of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Thousands of Iraqis living in Britain headed for the voting centers in London and Manchester to the north of England and Glasco in Scotland to cast their votes in the elections which they said will decide the prospects of the future of Iraq.

The International Migration Organization which supervise the elections outside Iraq said that despite the enthusiasm which was very clear by the voters, 31,000 Iraqi out of 150,000 living in Britain registered their names to take part in the elections.

Paris also opened the doors of its ballot centers for Iraqi voters who live in France and the neighboring states in order to cast their votes. Some 1041 Iraqis out of 10,000 living in France registered to vote. Iraqis living in Switzerland, Belgium, Spain and Italy where no ballot centers were opened, registered themselves in France.

Earlier in the day on Friday, the election centers for the Iraqi voters in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Syria, Iran and Australia were opened.

Elections are being made outside Iraq in addition to the said countries in Canada, Denmark, Germany, Holland, Sweden, Turkey and the USA. The International Migration Organization extended the grace period for registration which was presumed to end on Sunday until past Tuesday.