The eligible voters in Iraq began to go to the polls on Sunday for the country's landmark elections, as massive security was launched to protect them against insurgents who killed 21 people on Saturday and threatened a polling day bloodbath.  

Insurgents have intensified their attacks on government targets and polling stations ahead of the elections. In a bid to underline their determination to disrupt the elections, insurgents hit the US embassy in Baghdad's fortified green zone with a rocket on Saturday, killing two Americans and wounding four.

Elsewhere, they killed 17 Iraqis and an American soldier.

Earlier Saturday, eight Iraqis were killed and seven others wounded when a suicide bomber detonated himself near the security barrier around a joint coordination center in the northern Iraqi town of Khaniqeen, according to US military commanders in Tikrit.     

Fortified security

In an attempt to prevent threatened attacks on voters and polling stations, the authorities sealed Iraq's borders, closed airports and ordered civilian vehicles off the streets.

At least 100,000 policemen and soldiers were deployed across Iraq on the election day, with the US forces being called in for emergencies. Polling centers will be guarded by two rings of police.

But the US embassy attack deepened fears of a blitz on the election day and demonstrated the insurgents' ability to strike at the heart of the interim government and US power in a vast fortified complex on the west bank of the river Tigris.

It could also worsen fears among Iraq's 14.2 million voters over casting ballots in the first elections since Saddam Hussein was toppled in a US-led invasion in 2003.     

Bloody Sunday?

Insurgent groups, including a jihad faction led by al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have vowed to bomb "infidel" polling stations and kill anyone who dares to vote.

"For the last time, we warn that (Sunday) will be bloody for the Christians and Jews and their mercenaries and whoever takes part in the (election) game of America and Allawi," Zarqawi's group said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site, referring to interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

In the Anbar Province west of Baghdad, a restive area where elections were thought to be impossible, extremist groups distributed handouts and statements, warning people against participating in the elections.

"Anyone who goes to the station would be considered disobedient to Islam," reads one leaflet.

In Anbar's capital city of Ramadi, leaflets that asked people to stay home especially at night to avoid violence were posted instead of campaign posters.

"The evening will be turned into a hell that bites the Americans. The elections will be a disaster for the agents and collaborators with the occupation," reads a poster that carries the name of the Islamic Resistance Movement.

Many Iraqis promised to brave the threats when polls open at 7 AM (0400 GMT), but there are also many who were afraid of being attacked when or after they voted. Indelible blue ink that will be daubed on their index fingers to prevent multiple voting could mark them for death.

US and British forces have been ordered to stand back to avoid the impression of Iraqis voting under occupiers' guns. But the troops will have rapid-response teams on standby if needed.

But many Iraqis voiced doubts the security services would be able to protect them when they have hardly been able to protect themselves from insurgents who brand them collaborators.

In a news conference on Saturday, Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar said though only a minority of people would boycott the vote for political reasons, a majority of eligible voters would not go to polls in Sunday because of their fears of attacks.

"What we hope is that most Iraqis will take part in the elections, but we know that the majority will not because of the security situation," al-Yawar said.

The campaign unfolded in a climate of such intimidation that most candidates kept their names secret and even the locations of polling places were kept under wraps to the last moment.

Election organizers set up two polling centers on Saturday afternoon in Iraq's previously rebel-controlled Fallujah, but only found them bombed shortly afterwards.

Iraqi officials hope for a turnout of at least 50 percent to lend legitimacy to the outcome. Officials expect preliminary results in six to seven days and final results in about 10 days.

(Xinhua News Agency January 30, 2005)