Mosul has witnessed a trickle of voters. (Reuters)

By Khaled Al-Yassari, IOL Correspondent

MOSUL, January 30 (IslamOnline.net) – It is election day in Iraq and citizens, mainly Shiites and Kurds, went out in droves to cast their ballots. But many  youths in this predominately Sunni city were busy kicking or carrying a ball for a fervent soccer match.

Amid boycott calls from leading Sunni powers and scenes of deserted bullet-scarred polling stations, the majority of the city’s population did not demonstrate any enthusiasm for the vote, the first in a half-century.

As soon as the dawn-to-dusk curfew imposed by Iraqi and US authorities ended at 6:00 a.m., football-frenzied youths fanned out across the city kicking off their matches in full passion and energy.

Baghdad street, one of the city’s main streets, was teeming with footballers, who sought to capitalize on vehicles ban on election day.

“We have been dying for a soccer match for long and today is our day,” Hadi, 25, told IslamOnline.net avidly.

“I have been on a two-day holiday and decided to go out with my friends to play soccer instead of staying home and follow up elections on TV,” he added, taking a deep breath after an exhausting match.

His colleague Yasser Shaker, 28, ran out of steam following a seven-hour play.

“I just can’t see the point of holding such elections. I was totally left in the dark and hadn’t got the faintest idea about any candidate. Football is much more interesting,” he told IOL.

Iraqis nervously cast ballots Sunday, January 30, to elect a 275-seat National Assembly that will in turn choose a Presidency Council and draft the country’s new constitution.

The constitution must then be ratified through a national referendum – scheduled to take place at the end of 2005.

The vote is based on a single constituency, proportional closed-list system, meaning that if a party gets 10 per cent of the votes, it gets 10 per cent of the seats.

Poor Turnout

Polling stations in Mosul get a trickle of voters Sunday as most people were gripped by fears of indiscriminate attacks and car bombs.

Six explosions jolted the city in the early morning but the general hospital had no immediate word on casualties.

Mortar rounds fell into polling station housed in school in the old city but caused no casualties.

A voter coming out of a polling station was wounded by a sniper.

Mosul's election office was also hit by a mass defection of staff earlier this month after they received death threats.

The US military presence was far more visible around polling stations than elsewhere in the country, with tanks in the streets and fighter jets flying overhead.

The predominantly Sunni city, which is also home to Kurds, Turkomans and Christians, has been rocked by relentless violence since gun-toting locals over-ran police stations in November.

Militants unleashed Sunday a wave of bloody attacks, killing at least 37 people and wounding dozens in bombings and mortar strikes at polling stations across the occupied country.

Iraqis, particularly avid Shiites and apathetic Sunnis, remained divided on the controversial elections.