8 killed as Iraqis vote in delayed provincial polls

Iraqi woman casts her vote in the Anbar province A suicide bomber killed eight people at a vote counting centre, west of Baghdad, after polls closed in provincial elections. However no ballots were damaged, an official confirmed. A militant dressed as a policeman walked into the main vote counting office in Anbar\'s provincial capital Ramadi on Thursday evening and blew himself up, security, medical and election officials said.
The attack killed eight people and wounded fourteen.
\"Election workers were getting ready to have dinner at the time\" police colonel Jabbar al-Dulaimi said.
\"No ballots were damaged as the count had not yet begun\" head of Iraq\'s electoral commission, Khaled Rijab, said.
The elections, postponed for two months in Anbar and Nineveh provinces due to security concerns, come amid a long-running political deadlock and are seen as a key gauge of politicians\' popularity ahead of general elections next year.
Some 2.8 million voters in Anbar and Nineveh, which lie in Iraq\'s west and north respectively, were choosing between 1,185 candidates from 44 political parties jostling for 69 provincial council seats in all.
The polls are taking place two months after elections were held in 12 other Iraqi provinces in the centre and south of the country.
Officials cited security concerns when they announced the postponement to the Anbar and Nineveh votes, though critics saw the delay by Shiite-led authorities as politically-motivated and it was widely criticised by diplomats.
Tight security measures were put in place for the elections in the two provinces where nine candidates have been killed in the run-up to the vote, according to the United Nations.
Nineveh, for example, implemented a province-wide ban on vehicle traffic.
The provincial elections are seen as a key gauge of the popularity of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has been charged by his critics of consolidating power, ahead of parliamentary elections next year.
No landmark legislation has been passed since 2010 general elections, and analysts say a prolonged political stalemate and months-long protests in Sunni areas have contributed to a surge in nationwide violence which has sparked fears of a return to the brutal sectarian war that blighted Iraq in 2006 and 2007.
Additional source: AFP