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QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA, Associated Press SAMEER N. YACOUB, Associated PressUpdated: Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 5:35 amPublished: Wednesday, April 30, 2014, 5:34 am

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (AP) Unshaken by the latest surge in violence, Iraqis braved the threat of bombs and attacks to vote Wednesday in key elections for a new parliament amid a massive security operation as the country slides deeper into sectarian strife.

Hundreds of thousands of troops and police have fanned out to guard voting centers in what is also the first nationwide balloting since the 2011 American pullout. Polls across the energy-rich nation opened at 7 a.m. local time and will close at 6 p.m. Iraqs 22 million voters are electing a 328-seat parliament.

A roadside bomb killed two women as they walked to a polling station in the small Iraqi town of Dibis near Kirkuk, a turbulent city some 290 kilometers (180 miles) north of Baghdad. Another bomb in Dibis targeted an army patrol, wounding five soldiers, according to Sarhad Qadir, a senior police officer in the area.

In central Baghdad, police and army manned checkpoints roughly 500 meters (yards) apart, while pickup trucks with machine-guns perched on top roamed the streets. Much of the city looked deserted without the normal traffic congestion that Baghdad is notorious for. Most stores were closed.

In Baghdads mostly Shiite Sadr City district, for years a frequent target of bombings blamed on Sunni militants, elite counterterrorism forces were deployed and helicopters hovered above the sprawling area. Buses were used to ferry voters to polling centers.

Authorities also closed Iraqs airspace for the elections, and slapped a ban on vehicles to reduce the threat of car bombings.

Army and police personnel voted on Monday so they could be freed Wednesday to provide security for the rest of voters. Iraqi expatriates in about 20 countries cast their ballots on Sunday and Monday.

Voters are being subjected to multiple searches before they are allowed inside polling centers. Streets leading to the centers are blocked by police trucks and barbed wire.

I decided to go and vote early while its safe. Crowds attract attacks, said Azhar Mohammed as she and her husband approached a polling station in Baghdads mainly Shiite Karadah district. The 37-year-old woman in mourning black had just lost a brother a soldier killed last week in the northern city of Mosul.

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Iraq holds vote for a new parliament

"Abusing the System (The war on Libya)" Gerardo Gomez, Farhat Art Museum
"WAR" by Bob Marley "Abusing the System (The war on Libya)" Acrylic and spray paint on canvas. 320 x 225 cm. (126" x 89") Gerardo Gmez 2014.

By: Farhat Art Museum

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"Abusing the System (The war on Libya)" Gerardo Gomez, Farhat Art Museum - Video

Saadi Gaddafi Extradited To Libya
Saadi Gaddafi Extradited To Libya videolarn Nick Kaufman, who has represented Saadi Gadhafi, son of Moammar, in the past, speaks about his extradition to Libya. The Libyan government says...

By: NEWS Official

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Saadi Gaddafi Extradited To Libya - Video

TRIPOLI, Libya, April 29 (UPI) -- The Libyan National Oil Company announced it lifted an emergency declaration on oil operations at its Zueitina terminal in the east of the country.

The NOC said Monday it lifted force majeure -- a legal means to release it from its contractual obligations because of circumstances beyond its control -- at Zueitina because of "the improvement of the circumstances" in the country.

The Libyan government brokered a deal April 6 with eastern rebel leaders to re-open export terminals. An eight-month blockade from rebels seeking more autonomy for the region known as Cyrenaica cut Libya's oil export potential dramatically.

Zueitina has the capacity to ship 70,000 barrels of oil per day and was one of the four export terminals set to re-open under the terms of the April 6 deal. The government said last week the opening of the port was delayed because of damage incurred during the shutdown.

Eastern export terminals handle about half of Libya's oil export capacity. Before civil war erupted in 2011, Libya was one of North Africa's largest crude oil exporters, though output has been marginal since last year.

There was no statement from the NOC on the status of Zueitina's infrastructure.

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Libya re-opens key oil terminal

April 29, 2014

Passengers wait for their flights in the departure hall at Tripoli International Airport March 21, 2014. Reuters pic, April 29, 2014.With a bomb on the runway, pets boarding planes and passengers jetting off without visas, Tripoli International Airport typifies the chaos that has gripped Libya since the 2011 ouster of Muammar Gaddafi.

Western powers and Libya's neighbours worry the capital city's airport could be a gateway for illegal immigrants, including militant Islamists, from Africa and conflict zones such as Syria.

Morocco has just introduced visa requirements for Libyans after one group of travellers arrived on forged Libyan passports, and some European and Arab airlines have stopped flying to Tripoli for security reasons.

The European Union is training officials and helping upgrade facilities at the aging airport, a former British military base from World War Two, but a few new luggage scanners won't address the underlying security problem a government that is struggling to impose its authority on a country awash with arms and militias.

Like much of the North African country, the area surrounding the airport is controlled by one of the dozens of brigades of rebels that helped overthrow Gaddafi and have refused to give up their arms.

Political analyst Salah Elbakhoush said the airport was in the middle of a power struggle, with other armed groups, residents and civil aviation staff challenging the control of the militia from Zintan in western Libya.

"People are fed up with them," he said. "The situation west of Tripoli (near the terminal)... is very dangerous. The government is too weak to do anything."

Nightly shootouts have become more frequent in the area, making the airport road one of the most dangerous places in the capital, where security has deteriorated in recent months.

Whoever controls the airport, located about 30 kilometres outside Tripoli, gets access to business at the terminal, which is a main cargo and smuggling hub.

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