Iraq's bombed mosque city pins hopes on vote

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

SAMARRA, Iraq (AFP) — For some Iraqis voting is a way to avenge the killing of their loved ones, others hope the ballot will enact change, bring justice and maybe even reverse their fortunes.

Nearly 100,000 voters in central Iraq's Samarra -- a city with a violent past and links to Al-Qaeda insurgents -- are flocking to register to vote ahead of the delayed ballot, which was originally scheduled for October 1.

"This time we will vote. There is no doubt. We have to assert our rights," said Ahmed Hakim al-Samarraie, a 28-year-old biology lecturer in the Samarra College of Science.

It's a dramatic turnaround in attitudes from four years ago when Samarra residents who had pledged to vote were cowed by Al-Qaeda bullying, threats and wholesale murder.

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