Baghdad votes amid smiles, not bombs
Throughout the day on Wednesday Baghdad residents came to cast their ballots. There was nervousness among some at first. This election campaign has been bloody and some people I spoke to were scared that their polling stations would be attacked. Then, as news filtered through that the morning passed without incident, the mood changed in […]Imran Khan writes for Al Jazeera:
Throughout the day on Wednesday Baghdad residents came to cast their ballots. There was nervousness among some at first. This election campaign has been bloody and some people I spoke to were scared that their polling stations would be attacked. Then, as news filtered through that the morning passed without incident, the mood changed in Baghdad. People began to arrive at the polling stations and smiles replaced frowns.
Senior citizens struggled to walk in the heat, children chomped on sweets and licked ice creams with a skip in their steps. Baghdad's youth used the day as an excuse to dress up. Young women wore brightly coloured headscarves and young men wore seemingly physics-defying, tight clothes that are all the rage here.
