LONDON, 18 January 2005 — From Sydney to London via Tehran, up to a million Iraqis scattered around the world yesterday began registering to vote in their country’s upcoming general elections in a drive coordinated by the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration. “We estimate up to a million people in the 14 host countries could register” for the landmark elections slated for Jan. 30, said Peter Erben, speaking for the organization in Amman.

“This is a beautiful day,” said Mohammed Kamal, 18, who registered to vote “for democracy” in Amman. Iraqis abroad over the age of 18 will be able to vote for a 275-seat provisional national assembly, while those in the country will also be able to vote for 18 provincial councils and a parliament for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

More than 1,000 Iraqis in Australia were the first to register to vote Monday and, Erben said, “the feedback is good.” In Syria, home to about 400,000 Iraqis, of whom half were potentially eligible to vote, the registration began amid tight security, with voters being closely searched at the entrance to polling centers.

Ten schools in the Damascus region served as electoral centers, and a nationwide information campaign was launched to inform people about the vote. IOM representative Luis Martinez-Betanzos said more than 1,000 Iraqis had been “intensively trained” to oversee the process.

Up to 150,000 Iraqis were eligible to vote in Britain, where some 500 Iraqi citizens have been trained to carry out the registration between Monday and January 23, and then watch over the voting process at 70 polling stations from Jan. 28 to 30.

“Everything is running really very smoothly,” said an IOM spokeswoman, Kirsten Ainsworth, at a registration point in Wembley, northwest London, where several hundred people including families with children turned up. “Perfect, nice, excellent — everybody happy,” was how election volunteer Samir Ibrahim described the occasion.

“I’m feeling strong, confident about this election,” said Kasim Murthada from Wales, where Iraqis were planning to hire four buses to take them to a registration center in London at the weekend.

“This is the first opportunity to the Iraqis to be united, really. I think it is a big opportunity. We are going to work for a united Iraq and democratic future, a better future for the next generations.”