BAGHDAD - Iraq headed to the polls Saturday for its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild. At a polling station in the Baghdad district of Karrada, 74-year-old Sami Wadi appealed for change "to save the country". "I am voting for security and the economy to stabilise and for a better future," said labourer Ali Fahmi, 26. Ex-premier Nuri al-Maliki is widely reviled for stirring sectarianism and losing territory to IS, but draws support from hardliners. Putting on a brave face, the prime minister of autonomous Kurdistan, Nechirvan Barzani, insisted the political process would not succeed "without Kurdish participation".

Source: Bangkok Post May 12, 2018 06:45 UTC