TEHRAN, Jan 24 (AFP) - More than 48,000 Iraqis living in Iran have so far registered to vote for the landmark polls, organisers of the out of country voting operation said Monday.
The International Organization for Migration said the figure of 48,010, based on registration up to Sunday, was "very positive". The registration period is due to end late Tuesday.
"The response of Iraqi people in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been very positive. We hope it will continue in the next few days," said Kate Pryce, the head of the IOM operation in Iran.
IOM spokeswoman Monica Ellena said the organisation was working on an estimate that there were between 100,000 and 120,000 eligible Iraqi voters in Iran.
In other countries, however, Iraqi emigres have been showing scant interest in registering to vote in next Sunday's elections, organisers have admitted.
In the first six days of registration, just 188,000 expatriates signed up, compared to expectations of up to one million, said Peter Erben who is organizing the vote for the Geneva-based IOM.
According to the latest registration figures, the total number of registered voters has climbed to 237,704.
The voting operation in Iran has also come under criticism: one of Iraq's main Shiite parties, the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq, has complained of a lack of polling stations set up by the IOM.
SCIRI has complained that at least 40,000 Iraqis will have no access to the vote given the absence of polling centres in the cities of Isfahan, Shiraz, Yazd and the western province of Ilam.
But the IOM was only mandated for the task by the Iraqi electoral commission two months ago, and has managed to set up registration and polling centres in the cities of Tehran, Qom, Urumiyeh, Kermanshah, Ahvaz and Mashhad.
01/24/2005 14:18 GMT - AFP