LONDON, Jan 17 (AFP) - Members of Britain's 250,000-strong Iraqi community, voicing hopes for lasting peace in their homeland, stepped forward Monday to register to vote in Iraq's first democratic polls in half a century.
Under tight security, including police and private guards with baggage and body scanners, hundreds of Iraqis visited registration centers set up in London, Manchester and Glasgow.
"This is the first time we will be able to make our voices heard and even in Britain we can make them heard for all of those back home," said Issam Ahmed, a 31-year-old barber from London.
Up to 150,000 Iraqis living are thought to be eligible to register in the weeklong operation, organized by International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a total of 14 countries.
"It's the first day and it's taking a lot to get the ball rolling," David Kahrmann from the IOM told AFP at the registration station in Wembley, northwest London.
"We won't know the actual number of voters until registration is complete, but the appetite for the election is huge," another organizer said.
Couples with baby strollers, students and elderly Iraqis flowed into a vast conference hall behind Wembley Stadium, where 35 tables manned by Iraqi volunteers were covered in pamphlets in Arabic, Kurdish and English.
The small but enthusiastic crowd, including some who have lived outside Iraq for decades, dismissed opposition to the elections scheduled for January 30 as the view of a minority and said they were working for a better life for their Iraq-based families.
"We can do something that will help bring normal life back to our families in Iraq and help build stability," Ahmed said.
Kadhim Nagher, a 41-year-old university professor, hailed "the beginning of a political process".
"The situation back home is not ideal, because of the absence of people (taking part) in some parts of the country, but nonetheless you're talking about 80 percent of the population," he told AFP after registering.
"At the moment, we have terrorism. The only answer is to take part in this election."
"I've lived outside Iraq for 37 years. It's the first time in my life that I'm voting.... We hope next time we'll vote inside Iraq," added 57-year-old Sami Farj Ali, a journalist.
Some 500 Iraqis have volunteered to carry out registration procedures for voters from Monday to January 23 and then watch over the voting process from January 28 to 30 at some 70 polling stations in Britain.
Aside from the 35 polling stations at the London center, there are 24 in the northwestern English city of Manchester, and 11 in the Scottish city of Glasgow.
Glasgow's turnout Monday included Hazhai Sadaq, 28, and unemployed. "We want to be free of a brutal dictatorship, and voting is our way of making our voices heard for the first time," he said.
While several volunteers observed a low turnout -- there were no lines at the smooth-running London center -- they predicted increasing numbers at the weekend, when some community groups will sponsor trips to get to the registration stations.
Kasim Murthada, an engineer from Wales and head of the Iraqi Community Council, said hundreds of Iraqis, chauffeured in four buses, would travel from Wales to London at the weekend.
"This is the first opportunity for 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," he told AFP by telephone.
Britain is among 14 countries which have agreed to allow Iraqi expatriates to cast votes. The others are Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Iran, Jordan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.
01/17/2005 17:02 GMT - AFP