Baghdad Blackout

In an effort to sabotage the Iraqi constitutional referendum on the eve of the vote, insurgents
"sabotaged power lines, knocking out electricity across
Baghdad area Friday and plunging the capital into
darkness".

Insurgents also "detonated a bomb outside the Sunni Islamic Party's office in central Baghdad, then set fire to the party's main office in Fallujah".

In preparation for voting, "Tens of thousands of Iraqi army troops and policemen, meanwhile, formed security rings around the nation's estimated 6,000 polling stations and set up checkpoints on highways and inside cities".

Passage of the referendum is a key step in Iraq's transition toward democracy.

--LynZee