Bomb and rocket attacks killed at least 26 people as Iraqis voted on Sunday in a parliamentary election that put Iraq's security forces and its fledgling democracy to the test before US troops leave. Blasts rumbled across Baghdad and other cities as scores of mortar rounds, rockets and roadside bombs exploded near polling stations in a coordinated campaign designed to scare voters.

Sunni Imilitants had vowed to wreck the voting for Iraq's second full-term parliament since the 2003 US invasion.  Iraq's political course will be decisive for President Barack Obama's plans to halve US troop levels over the next five months and withdraw entirely by end-2011 and was watched closely by oil companies planning to invest billions in Iraq. In the deadliest attacks, 12 people died when a bomb blew up a Baghdad apartment block and four were killed in a similar explosion at another residential building.A Katyusha rocket killed four people elsewhere in the capital of seven million. At least 65 people were wounded around the country. Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said only 15 people had been killed in the capital.In the deadliest attacks, 12 people died when a bomb blew up a Baghdad apartment block and four were killed in a similar explosion at another residential building. A Katyusha rocket killed four people elsewhere in the capital of 7 million Despite the violence, the US military said insurgents had “fallen short” in attempts to intimidate voters. Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said only two of 50,000 polling stations had to be closed briefly for security reasons.Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari described the attacks as largely random mortar fire meant to frighten people. “They will not be able to deter the voters,” Zebari said.Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, the Baghdad security spokesman, said most of the rockets and mortar bombs had been fired from mainly Sunni districts in and around the city. “We are in a state of combat. We are operating in a battlefield and our warriors are expecting the worst,” he said.Moussawi said a car ban aimed at foiling vehicle bombs had been lifted after less than four hours of voting. Curbs on buses and trucks stayed in force. The Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaeda affiliate, had warned Iraqis not to vote and vowed to attack those who defy them. The 96,000 US troops still in Iraq stayed in the background, underscoring the waning American role in Iraq.The 19 million eligible voters in the ethnically and religiously divided country can pick between mainly Shiite extremist parties that have dominated Iraq since Saddam Hussein's fall and their secular rivals.Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite, urged all parties to accept the election results. “He who wins today may lose tomorrow, and he who loses today may win tomorrow,” he said after casting his ballot in the fortified Green Zone enclave.One of Maliki's opponents, ex-Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, has already complained of irregularities in early voting.Allawi's secular list is tapping into exasperation with years of conflict, poor public services and corruption, and hopes to gain support from the once privileged Sunni minority. Residents look at the debris of a collapsed building at the site of a bomb attack in Baghdad. Explosions killed 24 people as Iraqis voted on Sunday. About 6,200 candidates from 86 factions are vying for 325 parliamentary seats. No bloc is expected to win a majority, and it may take months to form a government, risking a vacuum that armed groups such as Iraq's al Qaeda offshoot might exploit.Competitive election Few elections in the Middle East have been as competitive as this one. Its conduct could determine how democracy in Iraq affects a region used to kings and presidents-for-life. “Today is the day when Iraqis speak while others keep silent,” declared Ammar al-Hakim, Shiite leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), after voting.Maliki, whose State of Law coalition is claiming credit for improved security since sectarian warfare peaked in 2006-07, faces a challenge from ISCI and his other former Shiite allies, derided by Sunni militants as pawns of neighbouring Iran. In contrast to the previous election in 2005, Iraqis can vote for individual candidates this time, not just party lists.“Democracy in Iraq is chaotic. Everyone lies,” said Abdul Rasheed al-Tamimi, a laborer in the Shiite city of Najaf. “I'm only voting because it's an open list and I know the candidate personally. I can hold him to account if he breaks his pledges.”In Sulaimaniya in Iraq's Kurdish north, Fatma Aziz remembered her late husband as she cast her vote. “When I put the ballot paper in the box, my tears fell ... I am sure he watched me from the grave while I voted for the Kurdish people,” she said. “My vote will heal my wounds from when the Iraqi army shot him dead in Saddam's time.” Radical Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr talks to the media. Sadr urges Iraqis to vote to help end US ‘occupation'Anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, speaking at a rare news conference in Tehran, has urged Iraqis to take part in Sunday's election to help pave the way for Iraq's “liberation” from US forces.Sadr galvanized anti-US sentiment following the 2003 invasion of Iraq but faded from the political scene since he vanished -- ostensibly to embrace religious studies in neighboring Iran -- more than two years ago. Sadr's Mehdi Army, once a feared militia, has largely laid down its arms but his political movement is trying to make a comeback.“Although holding elections under the shadow of occupation does not have legitimacy, I ask the Iraqi people to take part in the election as a political resistance move so that the ground is prepared for occupiers to leave Iraq,” Sadr said on Saturday evening, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported. “I ask the Iraqi people to go to the polls to elect the best people who can prepare the ground for Iraq's liberation,” he said. Sadr's movement is a key player in a Shiite-led coalition taking part in the national vote, and is likely to be influential in Iraq's next parliament, if not in government. It has wide support, mostly among the Shiite poor in the oil-producing south and deprived urban areas such as Baghdad's Sadr City slum.Iraq's political course will be decisive for President Barack Obama's plans to halve US troop levels over the next five months and withdraw entirely by end-2011. No bloc is expected to win a majority, and it may take weeks or months to form a government.The IRNA report did not say whether Sadr was now living in Iran or whether he was just visiting the predominantly Shiite Muslim country. Having fought an eight-year war with Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, Tehran has taken an active interest in the rise of Shiite political dominance in Iraq. US officials accuse Iran of arming Shiite militias. Iran says the blame for violence lies with the US troops who invaded Iraq. Tehran ReutersSome details about Iraqi electionAround 6,200 candidates nominated by 86 political entities are vying for 325 seats in the Council of Representatives, up from 275 seats in the 2005 election. Among the total are 1,718 women running for 81 seats.18.9 million registered voters in a nation of approximately 30 million people.More than 26 million ballots printed.300,000 poll workers in more than 50,000 polling stations, each one serving up to 420 voters; 100,000 ballot boxes procured for the election.16 countries hosting voting for Iraqis living abroad, estimated to number up to 2 million (Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Britain, United States)Iraq's security forces numbering 670,000 soldiers, police, and others, supported by 96,000 US troops, are providing security for the elections.In the last parliamentary election in December 2005, the initial distribution of seats in the previous 275: seat chamber was as follows:
United Iraqi Alliance (Shiite coalition) :  128 seats
Kurdish Alliance (Two Kurdish parties) :  53 seats
Iraq Accordance Front (biggest Sunni bloc) :  44 seats
National Iraqi List (Iyad Allawi's group) :  25 seats
National Dialogue Front (Saleh al: Mutlaq) :  11 seats
Kurdish Islamic Union :  5 seats
All the rest :  9 seats 08 March 2010, MondayREUTERS  BAGHDAD