Washington: Supporters and some opponents of the US-led war in Iraq across the world joined to praise Iraqis on Thursday for turning out in large numbers to vote in the country's general elections.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the poll had gone "very well" and called on the Iraqi people to accept the results. "The violence seems to have subsided a bit," he said.
The elections were also welcomed in Russia, one of the countries that fiercely opposed to the US-led invasion. "The elections open a new page in the history of modern Iraq," foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said in a written statement. Moscow is "convinced that only on the basis of broad dialogue" between all political and ethnic groups "and by renouncing force can a long-term political resolution be achieved in Iraq," Kamynin said.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said: "It shows very clearly that, given the choice, the Iraqi people want the same as the rest of us, which is the chance to live under a democratic form of government."
Ankara concern
The elections were welcomed in neighbouring Turkey, which however expressed concerns about alleged voting irregularities in northern Iraq. Ankara fears vote manipulation by Iraqi Kurds to gain exclusive control of the north especially Kirkuk, which has a sizeable population of Turkmens, an ethnic community of Turkic descent. "The elections will constitute an important stage in the political process in Iraq," Turkey's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The secretary general of the Nato military alliance, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said the high turnout and widespread participation of parties marked an important step forward.
Italy announced it will withdraw an additional 300 soldiers from Iraq in January as part of its gradual military pullout from the coalition. "People who can vote freely was unimaginable just three years ago," said Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Lithuania's parliament on Thursday voted against a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of 100 of the country's troops deployed in Iraq as part of a Polish and Danish battalion.
General George Casey, the US commander of coalition forces in Iraq, hailed the low levels of violence but warned not to expect the insurgency to be quickly defeated.
Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday hailed the large turnout in Iraq's election as vindication of the US-led invasion of the country, to which Australia contributed troops. "I am encouraged, even inspired," Howard said. He refused to set a timetable for the withdrawal of the 900 Australian troops in Iraq.
