Sun Jan 30, 2005 05:28 AM GMT
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - An explosion has been reported at a polling station in western Baghdad shortly after voting began in Iraq's elections, and there were believed to be casualties, police say.
The cause of the blast was not immediately clear, they said.
Insurgents have declared war on Sunday's election and vowed to launch attacks on polling centres.
An Iraqi woman receives ballot papers at al-Kadhmiya polling station in Baghdad, January 30, 2005. Iraq's first multiparty polls in half a century began at dawn on Sunday, elections intended to unite the country but which could instead foment sectarian strife and which insurgents have vowed to turn into a bloodbath. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani