"Iraq poll hangs on overseas vote"

UN launches £50m operation to reach four million expatriates

A last-minute push to prepare millions of Iraqis living overseas to vote in the critical elections in their homeland next month has been launched by the United Nations.

With only five weeks until the poll, there are still no clear estimates of how many expatriate Iraqis might be eligible to vote, though analysts agree that they could determine its outcome. Around 250,000 Iraqis live in Britain - one of the biggest expatriate communities - with up to four million spread elsewhere around the world.

In one of the biggest exercises of its type, costing around £50 million, tens of thousands of volunteers in 15 countries are working frantically to register Iraqis who are aged over 18.

In Britain, three registration centres will be set up next month in preparation for polling on 30 January.

Full Article : observer.guardian.co.uk