Separate lines of men and women could be seen at polling stations in most Iraqi cities, January 30, 2005, as they participated enthusiastically in the country's first elections under strict security. (Reuters Photo)

BAGHDAD, Iraq,
Jan. 30--Millions of Iraqis flocked to vote in a historic election Sunday, defying insurgents who killed 33 people in bloody attacks aimed at wrecking the poll.
Voters, some ululating with joy, others hiding their faces in fear, cast ballots in higher-than-expected numbers in their first multiparty election in half a century, Reuters reported.
Election officials estimated the turnout at 72 percent, a figure that--if confirmed--would enhance the legitimacy of a national assembly that will choose Iraq's new leaders. But in parts of Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland, where the insurgency has been bloodiest, some streets and polling stations were deserted.
Militants struck mainly in Baghdad, rocking the capital with nine suicide blasts in rapid succession. The Iraqi wing of Al-Qaeda claimed responsibility.
Casting his vote in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged his countrymen to face down the insurgents.
"This is a historic moment for Iraq, a day when Iraqis can hold their heads high because they are challenging the terrorists and starting to write their future with their own hands," he told reporters.
Despite Sunday's violence, election officials said by mid-afternoon that turnout had been far above expectations, though they gave no voter numbers. The government had set a target of at least 50 percent of Iraq's 13 million registered voters as the barometer of success.
Polling stations officially closed at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), but officials said people already in line could still vote.
Voters formed long queues in Shiite areas and the Kurdish north, where officials said turnout topped 90 and 80 percent, respectively. Many chanted and clapped. Some walked for miles.
Even in Falluja, the battle-scarred Sunni city that was a militant stronghold until a US assault in November, a slow stream of people turned out, confounding expectations.
Iraq's 60 percent-majority Shiites, oppressed for decades under Saddam, were expected to dominate the polls. Kurds, who make up nearly a fifth of Iraqis, want a result that enables them to enshrine their autonomous rule in the north. Several Sunni parties are boycotting the polls, saying the insurgency raging in their areas and the presence of more than 150,000 US-led troops make a fair vote impossible.
A Shiite alliance formed under the guidance of top cleric Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani is almost sure to win the most votes for a 275-seat parliament. But Allawi, leading a secular alliance, could be a consensus candidate to stay in office.
Officials expect preliminary election results in six to seven days and final results in about 10 days.

TEHRAN, Jan. 30--Vice President Massoumeh Ebtekar outlined the Islamic Republic's stances on different international issues and developments on Saturday in Davos, Switzerland.
Ebtekar, also the head of Department of Environment, was speaking during a ceremony held on the sidelines of the 35th World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos entitled Iran's Day, IRNA reported.
Outlining the key role being played by Iranian women and youth in different fields, she said the Iranian society is a growing and developed one.
Ebtekar then elaborated on the challenges facing the Iranian society and measures taken by President Khatami's administration to meet them.
Also addressing the ceremony, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the process of democracy has had many achievements for the Iranian society.
Kharrazi explained the country's stances regarding regional and international developments.
As to Iran's growing relations with regional states, the foreign minister said the Islamic Republic has played a determining role in establishing peace and security in the entire region, particularly in neighboring Afghanistan.
"The Islamic Republic has also prevented further aggravation of the Iraqi situation and massacre of innocent people in that occupied country," he said.
On Iran's nuclear activities, Kharrazi stressed the country's legitimate right to utilize nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

VIENNA, Austria,
Jan. 30--Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed to hold its current oil production ceiling steady and to suspend its target price band of 22-28 dollars a barrel, an official OPEC statement said Sunday following a meeting here.
"Since current supply/demand forecasts indicate that the market will remain in balance through the first quarter 2005, the conference decided to maintain currently agreed production levels," the statement said, AFP reported.
However, it said that due to a seasonal fall in crude demand in the second quarter and growing consumer country inventory levels, OPEC would hold consultations among members before its next meeting in Isfahan, Iran, on March 16 "to ensure that a timely cut (in production) could be made, as appropriate".
Turning to the OPEC's target price range, the organization said, "the conference noted that prices have remained outside the band for over a year due to market changes that have rendered the band unrealistic and has, therefore, decided to temporarily suspend the current price band, pending completion of further studies on the subject."
With oil prices climbing over the last week to flirt with $50 a barrel, OPEC ministers had broadly signaled ahead of the meeting this weekend that they would opt to keep production at the previously agreed level of 27 million barrels per day, nearly a third of the world's crude oil supply.
However, Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zangeneh said Sunday that OPEC could cut its production in case prices fall to 30 to 40 dollars a barrel.

TEHRAN, Jan. 30--Minister of Defense Vice Admiral Ali Shamkhani said on Sunday current defense cooperation between Iran and Lebanon is not against the interests of a third country.
Shamkhani made the remarks on the sidelines of the visit of his Lebanese counterpart Abdul Rahim Murad to Tehran, IRNA reported.
Speaking to reporters, he said ongoing negotiations between Iran and Lebanon are aimed at fostering friendly ties between the two countries.
Heading a military delegation, the Lebanese defense minister arrived here Sunday at the invitation of his Iranian counterpart.
Referring to his negotiations with his Lebanese counterpart, Shamkhani said the Lebanese delegation also underlined the fact that the US seeks to benefit from the potentials of regional countries to implement its own plan named "Greater Middle East".
"This proves that Tehran and Beirut hold common views on existing threats in the region," he said.
A memorandum of understating will be signed by the two countries to further broaden defense cooperation and boost bilateral trade.
The Iranian defense minister paid a two-day official visit to Lebanon last year to review expansion of defense cooperation, activate scientific and industrial potentials in security affairs and review the latest developments in the region.
On Iran's military capability before and after the triumph of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Shamkhani said before the revolution Iran had a dependent defense industry, but today the country is independent and can meet its own military requirements.

TEHRAN, Jan. 30--A parliamentary commission on Sunday limited the Turkish entity TurkCell's share in a major telecommunications project.
"Members of the commission approved that Iran's share in the contract be raised to 51 percent against a maximum 49-percent foreign share," Majlis Special Commission Rapporteur Ahmad Mahdavi said, IRNA reported.
Turkey's leading GSM operator TurkCell is expected to invest about $3 billion to set up Iran's first private mobile telephone network, making it one of the biggest foreign investments in Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
TurkCell was prevented from going ahead with the project amid political saber-rattling inside Iran over worries that the country's security could be compromised.
A member of the special commission, Ramezanali Sadeqzadeh-Sheikhan, said, "One of the criticisms of MPs regarding the TurkCell contract was related to the division of shares, with 70 percent in the hands of non-Iranians against 30 percent for Iranians. Today, this problem has been resolved and an arrangement of 51 percent for Iranians and 49 percent for foreigners has been approved."
Sheikhan also said "security and economic problems" of the deal will be discussed in Monday's session of the special commission, pending final parliament approval.