Troops, policemen and prisoners cast early vote

Baghdad: Soldiers, police, prisoners and displaced people began early voting on Wednesday ahead of Saturday's provincial election in Iraq, which will determine the political landscape across the country as US forces withdraw.

The election is the first in Iraq since 2005, and holding it peacefully will be a test of Iraq's tenuous stability as it emerges from years of sectarian war.

In the south, Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki is hoping to win support in provinces long dominated by large rival parties. In other parts of the country, Sunni Arabs, many of whom boycotted the last provincial poll, are seeking a bigger share of provincial power.

The early round of special voting was called to ensure that soldiers and police can all be on duty for a massive security operation during the main election on Saturday, when vehicles will be banned from the streets.

"This is our challenge to every terrorist and to everyone opposed," soldier Abed Khalaf said at a polling station in the northern city of Kirkuk, where the main poll has been delayed indefinitely but troops from other parts of Iraq can vote.

"We came here today and we are not afraid, because an honest person should not hide his head from these groups."

The commander in the area, Lieutenant Colonel Khalil Kamal Al Zobaie, said his men were happy to be voting: "This day is like a wedding for all the army."

In other parts of Iraq there were some signs of confusion. At the Ma'qal Prison in the southern city of Basra, fights broke out between guards and journalists brought inside to film the voting. Several photographers were beaten by guards who accused them of taking pictures that showed prisoners' faces.

Tens of thousands of displaced people are also registered for early voting, although they make up only a fraction of up to four million Iraqis believed to have fled abroad or to other parts of Iraq during years of fighting.

Holding a successful election is an important test of the ability of Iraqi troops to keep the peace as 140,000 US troops begin to leave. US President Barack Obama wants to speed up the pace of withdrawal after his predecessor George W. Bush promised to pull out the troops by the end of 2011.

Iraqis have embraced the voting enthusiastically. Some 14,400 candidates, including nearly 4,000 women, have registered to fight 440 provincial council seats. Campaign posters are plastered all over the concrete blast walls that have sprung up throughout the country since the US-led invasion in 2003.