Iraqi Sunnis vote, but grievances linger

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - In Baghdad's Sunni district of Adhamiya, you would never guess that anyone from Iraq's Shi'ite majority was running for parliament in Sunday's election.

Posters of Shi'ite Islamist candidates that festoon the rest of the Iraqi capital suddenly disappear when you drive into the upscale Adhamiya neighborhood on the east bank of the Tigris.

Absent are the photos of stern-faced Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a Shi'ite who is seeking to convince voters he is a non-sectarian nationalist despite his Islamist roots. Gone are the posters promoting the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, a giant religious party closely linked to Iraq's Shi'ite neighbor Iran.

Instead, a huge portrait of Sunni Vice-President Tareq al-Hashemi is draped across a traffic circle, along with posters for a cross-sectarian list headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite.

The way Sunnis vote today will help determine whether Iraq's fledgling democracy can assuage the resentment they have harbored since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 toppled Saddam Hussein and abruptly ended their long dominance of Iraq.

Sunnis in Adhamiya, like many people across Iraq, deny there is any abiding rancor among ordinary Iraqis despite the sectarian killing that nearly ripped Iraq apart in 2006-07.

Yet Sunnis like Ibrahim Khalil openly seethe at what they see as attempts by Iraq's new Shi'ite leaders to shut them out of power for good, and fume at evidence of poor governance.

"Iraq gets millions of dollars a day from oil. But look at how we are living -- how can this happen?" he asked, pointing to the unpaved, trash-strewn street beneath his feet.

The list of complaints from Sunnis, relatively privileged during Saddam's Baathist rule, is long: their neighborhoods receive fewer services; they cannot get government jobs; their neighborhood guards are targeted for intimidation and arrest.

ALLAWI HOPING FOR SUNNI VOTE

Such sentiments may benefit Allawi, an urbane doctor who vows to separate religion from politics and who accuses Maliki of rubbing salt into the country's sectarian wounds.

Sunni suspicions were also aroused when a Shi'ite-led panel vetoed hundreds of candidates accused of links to the now-outlawed Baath party, including a leading Sunni politician running on Allawi's ticket. Maliki endorsed the ban.

"Maliki says he doesn't make sectarian distinctions, but he does," said Jamal Khalil, a Sunni taxi driver.

While turnout figures were not yet available, there were few signs of a repeat of the Sunni boycott that marred a January 2005 election for a transitional parliament, which further marginalized Sunnis and fueled a vicious insurgency.

"We made a mistake as Sunnis by not participating in the last election," said Shaker Jassem, voting in the southern city of Basra. "Our participation now is to correct the wrong situation imposed on us by some political and religious leaders."

On Sunday, Sunni mosques broadcast calls urging people to vote. Turnout appeared modest, perhaps due in part to blasts reverberating across Baghdad in the early hours of voting.

In Adhamiya and other Sunni areas, children played soccer in streets kept empty by a vehicle ban, using bricks as goals. Families strolled to polling centers in warm spring sunshine.

Many Sunnis fear the incumbent Shi'ite parties might resort to electoral dirty tricks. Allawi has already complained of irregularities in early voting last week.

"We Sunnis seek real partnership in power, not just participation. We will continue to feel disenfranchised until we can participate actively, but this will be difficult in current circumstances," said Falih Abdullah, 62, in Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, once heartland of the Sunni insurgency.

At the al-Muhij primary school in Adhamiya, Ahmed al-Saffar stood fuming outside his voting station because his name did not appear on the voter rolls and he could not cast his vote.

Abu Ziad, a professor who ducked into a nearby shop to buy milk, also feared fraud. He had heard the ink used for marking ballots in Adhamiya would fade after a few hours. The names of candidates people voted for, he said, would then be replaced.

Who, Abu Ziad was asked, could be behind such trickery? He replied by pointing skywards, but he was not suggesting divine intervention. "Not Allah. Just a little lower than that."

(Additional reporting by Waleed Ibrahim in Ramadi, Mohannad Mohammed and Aref Mohammed in Basra; writing by Missy Ryan; editing by Alistair Lyon and Samia Nakhoul)