Bombers target Iraqi voters

[Rhiannon12866]

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A string of suicide bombings and mortar attacks, some targeting lines of Iraqi voters waiting to cast their ballots in the first free elections in half a century, have killed at least 16 people and wounded scores more.

Turnout was sporadic across the nation after 30,000 polling booths opened at 7 a.m. on Sunday (0400 GMT) under the watchful eye of Iraqi security forces and U.S. troops. Voting is scheduled to end at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT).

In former president Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, polling stations were virtually empty. But in other parts of the country booths were packed with people casting their ballots, many of them for the first time in their lifetime.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/01/30/iraq.main/index.html