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Falluja: Iraqi secular insurgents and Islamist militants yesterday said they will soon resume attacks on US troops and their Iraqi allies, saying they had only observed an election truce to let fellow Sunni Arabs vote. Both Saddam Hussain loyalists and religious militants said the insurgency will rage until US troops leave Iraq. "As long as the occupation exists along with the agents who brought it, we will continue our armed struggle," said Abu Muyasir, 52, a former member of Saddam's Baath Party who is a local guerrilla leader in Falluja. He said rebels will also kills Prime Minister Ebrahim Al Jaafari, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi and Abdul Aziz Al Hakim, leader in the ruling Shiite bloc.
Iraq held a largely peaceful election on Thursday for a four-year parliament since a US-led invasion toppled Saddam and his Sunni Arab-dominated system in 2003. Minority Sunni Arabs also took part on Thursday after their absence from the January poll swept Shiites and Kurds to power. Warning Despite their hostility to the US-backed political process, insurgents urged Sunnis to vote this time and vowed to protect them from Islamist militants led by Abu Musab Al Zarqawi, a Jordanian who leads Al Qaeda in Iraq. "This does not mean stopping our holy war. The coming days will be tough on the Americans and their supporters in the Iraqi army," said a local 48-year-old leader in Mohammad's Army, an Iraqi group whose members once served in Saddam's intelligence services. Abu Muyasir said Iraq's US-backed government was bent on smashing Saddam's Baath Party. In Ramadi, a 38-year-old leader of the Islamic Army, Abu Qatada, said insurgents will not rest until they had kicked out the Americans and their Iraqi "agents". Heavy turnout in rebel bastions - More than two-thirds of Iraqi voters turned out in the country's landmark election, according to first estimates. A figure of 11 million voters will put turnout around 70 per cent.
- In the western Al-Anbar region where the insurgency is based, officials estimated turnout of 85-95 per cent in Fallujah.
- The electoral commission also forecast turnout for the hotspot of Ramadi was 75-80 per cent.
- A total of 15.5 million Iraqis were called to vote for a four-year 275-member parliament choosing from 7,655 candidates and 307 political entities, nearly triple the number in January.
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