Abbie Fentress Swanson, Culture Editor & Interactive Content Producer
Abbie Fentress Swanson covers arts and culture for WNYC and is the editor for WNYC's Culture Web site. Follow her on Twitter @dearabbie.
Maliki's Coalition Leads Polls in Iraq
Monday, March 08, 2010
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An Iraqi woman casts her ballot for the country's parliamentary elections March 7, 2010 at a polling station in Baghdad, Iraq. (Getty Images)
Despite car bombings and mortar attacks, 62 percent of Iraq's registered voters turned out to vote in the parliamentary elections.
At least 38 people were killed as more than 100 explosions rocked Baghdad yesterday. The turnout was lower than in 2005, when turnout was 70 percent. Results of the election are expected later in the week.
The Associated Press reports that early poll estimates show a coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki may take the lead in the parliamentary race.
The AP reports that Abbas al-Bayati from al-Maliki's State of Law coalition said the coalition did well in Baghdad and the Shiite south.
Meanwhile, the top U.S. general in Iraq says the country's national election was a milestone on the way to a full pullout of U.S. combat troops by September 1. General Ray Odierno says most of the roughly 96,000 troops in Iraq will stay through May when the military will begin scaling down to 50,000 noncombat troops. Odierno says "unless there's a catastrophic event...we don't see that changing."
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