A child was killed on Wednesday when a roadside bomb targeting Iraqi security forces exploded in the town of Samarra, north of Baghdad. Two policemen were also killed north of the capital in a separate roadside bomb attack.
Four civilians were wounded in the two attacks, which come just one day ahead of Iraq's parliamentary elections.
Iraq's 15 million eligible voters will go to the polls on Thursday to vote for the nation's first fully-constitutional parliament.
Meanwhile, campaigning for Thursday's election ended on Wednesday in preparation for the vote. A traffic ban, border and airport closures as well as curfews were also imposed across the nation in an attempt to avert any violence which authorities expect from those opposed to elections.
The US hopes that Iraq's disaffected minority will participate in the vote, speeding the establishment of a stable government in Iraq.
In Tikrit, a polling station was attacked by gunmen and a half hour gunfight ensued, according to Reuters.
Head of Iraq's election commission in Salahaddin province, Salah Faraj, threatened to quit his post after a gunfight between guards and Iraqi soldiers who attempted to arrest him and his staff.
Also on Wednesday, a truck filled with thousands of forged blank ballots was discovered crossing the border into Iraq. Authorities are looking into the matter.
Despite the violence, more than 1,000 Sunni religious leaders issued a decree instructing their followers to vote.
They hope that such participation will lessen the ability of the Shiite majority to abuse Iraq's minority groups.
Meanwhile a Saudi newspaper reported Wednesday, that an Israeli citizen named Jacky Hugi cast his vote in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Hugi, born to Iraqi parents, is the Arab affairs correspondent of Maariv, one of Israel's leading newspapers.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
