DAMASCUS - Iraqis living abroad began casting ballots in their homeland's crucial parliamentary elections Friday, the second for a full parliamentary term since the 2003 US-led invasion ousted Saddam Hussein. Hundreds stood in lines at stations in Syria, home to the largest Iraqi expatriate community, and voting was also being held in neighboring Jordan and more than a dozen other countries around the world, from Australia to the United States. The United Nations refugee agency estimates that around 2 million Iraqis are living abroad the majority of whom fled violence following the 2003 US-led invasion. Iraq's Sunni Arab minority has been particularly attentive to the out-of-country voting, especially in neighbouring Syria and Jordan in the belief that many of the potential voters there are Sunnis who fled the sectarian violence. Sunnis are hoping a strong turnout among their community will counterbalance what many expect will be a strong vote among the Shi'ite majority for their own religious parties. Voting abroad will be held for three days, while in Iraq most voters go to the polls on Sunday, choosing a 325-seat legislature. The largest bloc in parliament will try to put together a government to lead Iraq for four key years as US troops withdraw. Among the first to vote at Damascus' Arab Cultural Center, one of 23 stations around the country, was Samir al-Abdali, a 56-year-old refugee who said he voted for Iraqiya, a secular list that includes both Shi'ites and Sunnis. Among its leaders are Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite.
