The vote count was scheduled to begin on Feb. 1. Results were expected
within 72 hours.
Most of the violence — which included the killing of three
candidates — was reported in northern Iraq. In Mosul, U.S. soldiers killed
two Iraqi plainclothes policemen during an operation against Al Qaida near
an Iraqi checkpost in Mosul.
"Despite multiple attempts to identify themselves, the [U.S.] force
continued to receive hostile fire," a U.S. military statement said on Jan.
31. "Acting in self defense, coalition forces returned fire. Coalition force
members immediately moved to the building and linked up with the Iraqi
police forces. A search of the building revealed two Iraqi police, who were
not in uniform, were killed during the exchange."
Security was especially tight in Baghdad's Shi'ite neighborhoods. In
Baghdad's Sadr City, home to Iranian-sponsored Shi'ite militias, an army
officer fired opened fire toward several people who were chanting slogans at
a polling station. One person was killed and another was injured.
Al Qaida and pro-Saddam Hussein forces also sought to disrupt the
elections. In Tikrit, the home of Saddam's tribe, insurgents fired three
mortar shells toward a polling station.
A bomb was also found near a polling station in Tikrit. There were no
reports of casualties in the Sunni city.
Officials said Iraqi troops maintained exclusive authority around
polling stations. They said U.S. forces provided perimeter security, but
were not allowed to patrol near voting centers.
"There were no major breaches in a massive security plan," Iraqi Defense
Ministry spokesman Mohammed Al Askari said. "I consider it a great success,
like a wedding."
In Baghdad, the Iraq Air Force employed the King Air 350 intelligence,
surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft to provide real-time surveillance
and full-motion video of troubled areas of the capital. Officials said the
King Air 350, a twin-engine turboprop with surveillance capabilities similar
to the U.S.-origin Predator unmanned aerial vehicle, relayed images to the
Iraqi National Operations Center. The air force contains five such aircraft.
"We envision the Iraqi air force using this system to support military
or police operations centers, or, for example, with the Iraqi navy,
supporting maritime security operations and oil platform defense in the
northern Arabian Gulf," U.S. Navy Cmdr. Chuck Pratt, an intelligence adviser
to the Iraqi military, said. "We also need to network the ground stations so
information can be viewed where it is needed."
