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| Iraq |
| Iraqis abroad begin voting in homelands polls |
| 2010-03-06 |
| [Al Arabiya Latest] Iraqis living abroad began casting ballots in their homeland's crucial parliamentary elections Friday, a constituency Iraq's Sunni Arab minority hope will boost their showing. Thousands stood in lines at polling stations in Syria and Jordan, home to the largest Iraqi expatriate communities. Voting was also being held in more than a dozen other countries around the world, from Australia to the United States. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that around 2 million Iraqis are living abroad -- the majority of whom fled violence following the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. A large proportion of those -- particularly in Jordan and Syria -- are Sunni Arabs who fled the fierce wave of sectarian killings at the height of the Iraq war. That has made their votes a major focus of attention for Sunni leaders in Iraq, who are hoping a strong turnout among their community will counterbalance a strong vote among the Shiite majority for their own religious parties. |
| Posted by:Fred |