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03/05/2010

Shiite Muslims in Iraq at prayer at the end of the week, in front of election campaign posters. On Sunday, Iraqis will go to the polls for only the second time since US forces ousted former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Although around 19 million are eligible to vote, it is estimated that only between 600,000 and 700,000 citizens will make their choice from among the more than 6,000 candidates competing for over 300 seats. Much more is at stake, though: levels of sectarian violence, the pullout of Western forces by 2011 and the ability of local security to police the electoral process. While special voting -- for overseas residents, prisoners and security forces -- started peacefully enough at the end of the week, there have already been several bomb attacks around the country aimed at disrupting Sunday's voting.

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