Sunni Bombs and Guards Greet Iraq Vote

Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Zarqawi, a Jordanian, and infused with foreign fighters, distributed leaflets in the west pledging punishment for all who voted Saturday. "We have warned; we shall not be blamed," one leaflet read.

But six insurgent groups led by Iraqis countered with a call for restraint by their foreign allies. In one of the first signs that some Iraqi insurgents were eschewing violence for politics, Muhammad's Army, the Mujaheddin Army and other organizations based in Ramadi said in a statement that Zarqawi's group "should not get involved in minor fights that only serve the occupation."

The statement, distributed at Ramadi mosques, said that voting by Sunnis would "answer the Iraqi and American politicians who claim that the resistance has no political agenda."

It was not clear whether the statement represented the views of the groups' disparate leaders.

In Taji, just north of Baghdad, an insurgent leader who served in Hussein's intelligence services oversaw guerrillas providing security at polling places on the eve of the referendum. As a reporter watched, he chastised a fellow insurgent for bombing another site.

In the far west, tribal fighters in heavily Sunni Anbar province deployed to protect some polling centers. Men holding AK-47 assault rifles took up posts at some sites in Fallujah. In Ramadi, however, local tribes reneged on a pledge to protect the polls, telling authorities that Zarqawi's group had posted a death threat on the gate of the home of a tribal sheik, said Khidhir Mohammed, head of the Anbar Provincial Council.

Iraqi military forces mobilized, under U.S. guard, to get ballots out to voting centers. For seven hours Friday, the Iraqi army delivered ballots to seven polling sites in the predominantly Sunni Arab town of Ishaqi and surrounding villages in Salahuddin province.

Two black Apache attack helicopters circled over the convoy, which consisted of three gun trucks and a transport truck filled with the election materials packed in cardboard boxes. The Iraqis were trailed by five armored Humvees with soldiers from the U.S. Army's 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment. "We're not playing," said Lt. Col. Jody L. Petery, the battalion commander.

Three of the seven polling sites, all located at elementary schools, had been bombed Wednesday night, hours before Iraqi police were to move into the schools to provide round-the-clock security for the referendum. U.S. officers believed the bombers were tipped off by members of the Iraqi security forces.

The bombs destroyed desks and chairs and left tangles of wire that still had not been cleared Friday. But the U.S. military and Iraqi election officials said the polling sites were functional.

At least two polling sites in Balad, a predominantly Shiite city 20 miles south of Ishaqi, were hit by mortar attacks in the past week. One was moved to another location after a mortar shell landed on the roof.

U.S. and Iraqi commanders said they were uncertain who was behind the attacks.

The carrying of weapons in public was banned for the days around the vote, and beginning Friday, the country's borders were sealed, Baghdad International Airport was closed and travel between provinces was prohibited. Most of the restrictions were to last until at least Sunday.

Unlike in January's parliamentary elections, when most Sunni Arabs stayed home and insurgents threatened Iraqis with beheadings if they voted, Sunnis have said they will participate in Saturday's referendum. A Western official in Baghdad said Friday he expected Sunni turnout to be strong, depending on security.

To defeat the proposal, opponents need a two-thirds "no" vote in at least three of Iraq's 18 provinces. But the solid support of Iraq's Shiite majority and Kurdish minority is expected to carry the referendum. State television broadcast a statement by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the most influential Shiite cleric in Iraq, recommending Shiites vote yes.

Fainaru reported from Ishaqi. Correspondents Jackie Spinner in Bakhan, Jonathan Finer in Najaf and John Ward Anderson in Baghdad and special correspondents Naseer Nouri in Najaf and Omar Fekeiki, Bassam Sebti and Saad Sarhan in Baghdad contributed to this report.