Quote:
BAGHDAD: Iraq took another big step yesterday toward becoming a fully democratic and independent nation as millions voted on a new constitution despite threat of violence.
Prime Minister Ibrahim Al Jaafari, after casting one of the first ballots in Baghdad, said: "The constitution is a sign of civilization. We consider this a day of great achievement. This constitution has come after heavy sacrifices. It is a new birth."
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan congratulated the Iraqi people, saying it represents a chance for the country to move away from violence and towards unity.
"For the second time this year, the people of Iraq have braved difficult conditions and the threat of violence to exercise the vote," a statement issued by Annan's spokesman said, calling the referendum "an important opportunity for the Iraqi people to express their political views."
"This weekend is a momentous time in the history of the Middle East," US President George W Bush said as Washington eagerly awaited the results of the referendum that are expected to be known on Tuesday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice welcomed the referendum as an "important milestone".
Rice, on a brief trip to London to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, also said a democratic Iraq would help bring peace to the Middle East and end the "extremist ideology of hatred" that produced suicide bombers.
"There is now a political process in which most Iraqis see their future and in which they are investing their future," Washington's top diplomat told the BBC.
Except for several hot spots west of Baghdad, Sunni Arabs came out of their postwar political isolation to vote on the draft charter. Most are thought to have voted "no" because they view the constitution as offering a recipe for the country's eventual breakup.
They voted in surprisingly high numbers, many of them hoping to defeat it in an intense competition with Shi'ites and Kurds over the shape of the nation's young democracy after decades of dictatorship.
With little violence, turnout was more than 66 per cent in the three most crucial provinces, amid a heavy clampdown by US-Iraqi forces across the country. The constitution still seemed likely to pass, as expected.
But the higher-than-forecast Sunni turnout made it possible the vote would be close - or even go the other way - and cast doubt on US hopes that the charter would succeed in luring Sunnis away from the insurgency.
Washington hopes the constitution will be approved so Iraqis can form a permanent, representative government and the 150,000 US troops can begin to withdraw.
The country's Shi'ite majority - some 60 per cent of its estimated 27 million people - and the Kurds - another 20pc - largely support the approximately 140-article charter, which provides them with autonomy in the northern and southern regions where they are concentrated.
Brian