| MEDIA OPS CENTER ELECTION SITREP 151100-151200
Provincial Highlights
Al Anbar (Al Qaim, Ramadi, Fallujah):
·CNN covers Sunni perspective during interview with key Sunni official: “Sunnis should vote in very large numbers today. We will have more legitimacy and will hopefully represent the centerpiece of the new Government”.
·Fallujah: EMT reports that the lines at the polling booths are not very long, and estimates 350 people have voted as of 1000.
·FOX (North): Reported from a Ramadi polling station where only one person had gone to vote: cited security concerns as reason for low turnout. Reported that mosques have issued two announcements urging Sunnis to vote. Reported on the Green Zone mortar attack: injured three individuals.
SITREP#4: CNN repeating video of Ramadi explosion: overall coverage, however, indicates minimal violence so far. Amanpour reports slow start to voting could be due to fatigue overnight due to warning that water could be poisoned.
SITREP#4: IECI says more than 200 voting stations due to open in Anbar: unclear yet how many will do so.
SITREP#4: Al-Iraqiya: “Cities of Fallujah, Khaldiyah, Haditha, Rutba, Annah, Kbeisa, Hussaybah witnessed a good turnout over last two hours. There’s coordination between the tribal leaders and the people to protect the voting stations. We heard the mosques calling the people to head to the voting stations. We watched election posters and banners pinning on the walls to encourage the citizens and tents in Husaybah to receive voters. The Tribes’ young men are now protecting the stations by coordination with the city Council and the security forces.
SITREP#3: Al-Araybia: Reports of an arrangement between the government and tribal heads to protect the polling centers in Ramadi. People are starting to “flock’ to the polling sites.
SITREP#2: CNN and Al Arabiya: reporting an explosion in Ramadi.
SITREP#1: Reuters reports that three empty polling stations were damaged by “small explosive devices” in the Sunni Arab city of Fallujah, Iraqi Police said 14 Dec. No one was hurt but 4,000 ballot papers were stolen.
Babil (Hillah):
SITREP#1: Reuters reports that Iraqi Police detained a militant group with a range of weapons that was planning to attack polling centres in Babil province, south of Baghdad, at Thursday's election.
Baghdad:
·AFP: Two civilians were injured when three mortar rounds struck Sadr City and the central neighborhood of Bab al-Muadahm of Baghdad.
·BBC: Video of Baghdad blast, Jafari voting and CG Casey predicting high Sunni voter turnout
SITREP #4: After casting his vote, PM declared that "ballot boxes are a victory of democracy over dictatorship. The real triumph is that people are casting ballots -- whoever they choose -- and that they've chosen voting over bombs."
SITREP#4: CPIC: One indirect fire round landed in the International Zone shortly after 0700. Two civilians and one U.S. Marine received minor wounds and were treated at the scene. The incident is under investigation.
SITREP#4: CNN (Aneesh Raman): Reporting from Baghdad that the ISF leads on election security; video portrays peaceful images at polling sites. US presence has been absent from video.
SITREP#4: Al-Iraqiya: Reporting from Karada: There’s a great turnout, but some voters who left restless parts of the city like Doura neighborhood to Karada District in Baghdad are not registered. The observers and the voters appealed to the IECI to give them opportunity to vote.
SITREP#3: PM held a press conference in Baghdad, in which he stated the political process is the ultimate goal itself: “We all should put the interest of Iraq above our personal interests. The interest of the country is the priority.”
Diyala (Baqubah):
·Dispelled rumors about an attack that happened in Baquba: IECI stated that though there were scattered attacks, none hit election sites and no one was reported injured.
·Al Arabiya: Reporting about the increased number of people at elections site in Baquba as compared to the last elections.
SITREP#3: CNN (Cooper): “All you see is Iraqi police security factions providing security in the Baqubah area - they are stepping up to the plate to provide their own security without any visible U.S. troops.”
Ninewah (Tal Afar, Mosul):
SITREP#4: AFP: An Iraqi civil guard was killed and four people wounded in sporadic outbreaks of violence near Mosul as he investigated a grenade thrown by a cyclist at people outside a voting centre, police said. Two police officers were also wounded in the blast.
SITREP#4: Reuters: Roadside bomb explodes near school/polling station in southeastern Mosul, killing guard and wounding policeman.
SITREP#4: Reuters: Seven explosions heard in Mosul in what the U.S. military says was an attack on two of its vehicles: no injuries.
SITREP#2: EMT reports a steady stream of voters (men and women) in Tal Afar. Media are interviewing voters inside the polling station.
Salah Ad Dihn (Baji, Tikrit, Samarra):
·Al Iraqiya: No incidents so far at elections sites in Samarra; voting process is going smoothly.
SITREP#4: Reuters: Mortar round lands near polling station in Tikrit, police say. No immediate reports of casualties or damage.
SITREP#1: The head of the province’s election commission threatened to quit after a gunfight between guards and Iraqi soldiers who tried to arrest him and his staff. He later returned to work.
Tamim (Kirkuk):
·Political officer reports calmness at polling stations in Kirkuk: people are dressing in their finest; some are waving Kurdish flags. Predicts the beginning of a good turnout.
·AFN in Kirkuk: Polls opening to long lines: no reported attacks.
SITREP#4: Al-Arabiya: Reported from Kirkuk that “there’s a big turnout as hundreds headed for the voting stations. It seems the people realize that the political process is the only way to get Iraq out of its ordeal.”
SITREP#3: Al-Arabiya: Heavy participation in Kirkurk at the polling stations; people are happy about the voting process.
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