For the first time in nearly half a century, Iraqis all over the world will participate this weekend in free, multi-party elections to choose leaders for a national assembly.

It has been nearly two years since the United States led the invasion and occupation of Iraq to remove Saddam Hussein from power, and preparing for the elections has taken almost as long.

But violence by insurgents remains high in many regions of Iraq, causing much fear that election day will be bloody, and raising skepticism that voting won't be fair throughout the still-war-torn nation.

An estimated 7 million ballots will be cast by Iraqi citizens worldwide. People over 18 who are current or former Iraqi citizens or born to an Iraqi father can vote. Inside Iraq, the vote is Sunday; elsewhere, it runs today through Sunday.

In the United States, Iraqi citizens will vote in five cities - including Metro Detroit - but only 11 percent of the estimated 240,000 eligible Iraqi Americans have registered to vote at a U.S. location.

All told, there are 1.2 million eligible expatriate Iraqis worldwide. Less than one-quarter had registered by last week's deadline. There are 74 polling locations in 14 countries.

The low numbers are attributed to shortage of registration and polling places, a disorganized election effort, conflicts with a key Islamic holiday and fears of violence.

Those who do vote are being asked to pick members of the 275-member national assembly, which will have a one-year mandate. Their responsibilities will include electing a president and two deputy presidents and drafting Iraq's Constitution.

Local voices

Many Iraqis and Muslims in the United States, as well as throughout the world, remain divided on their views of this weekend's election. Some say the election is a first step to freedom, while others criticize it as nothing more than a distraction.

"Islam encourages democratic processes," said Sani Abbas, vice president of the East Lansing Islamic Center. "If this election brings democracy and ends the bloodshed and brings stability to the country and region, than we here at the center welcome it."

Syed Ali Mehdi Jafri, political chair of the Muslim Students' Association said the United States has a stake in this election, so it's important to remain skeptical of a U.S.-backed vote.

"I worry that the leaders of the occupation may attempt to manipulate the electoral process to establish their own puppet regime, as has been done in other nations," Jafri said. "This concern stems from the veil of hypocrisy which the occupation has been wearing from day one."

Imad Khadduri, a 1965 MSU graduate born and raised in Iraq, and former Iraqi nuclear scientist, said he will not participate in the Iraqi vote. He said the election is a "sham" and another war crime committed against the Iraqi people.

"Democracy is not a paint with an American brush," he said. "You don't ram democracy down the throats of conquered people."

He criticized the use of the Iraqi National Guards at polling locations there. The guardsmen are "shields for the American soldiers," which causes contempt among the Iraqi people, Khadduri said.

"Many other Iraqis unfortunately were fooled by what they call democratic elections," he said. "There's no democracy when you are under the gun."

Attacks in Iraq

As the elections draw closer, insurgents attacks in Iraq have been increasing to try to scare people away from the polls. Fliers distributed in Baghdad warn that the insurgents will "wash the streets of Baghdad" with voters' blood.

On Thursday, Iraqi newspapers published for the first time the names of some 7,000 National Assembly candidates, many of whose identities had previously been kept secret to protect them from assassination.

Eleven Iraqis and one U.S. Marine were killed Thursday as insurgents clashed with U.S. troops and blew up a school slated to serve as a polling center. Wednesday was the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war's start. The government is tightening security in Iraq starting today, imposing a curfew, banning driving on election day, and closing the border and airport.

Site security

About 80 miles southeast of MSU, the Detroit suburb of Southgate is hosting a polling location in an abandoned store. The Detroit area has the greatest population of Iraqi immigrants in the United States.

Security in the area is being provided by state, county and local police departments, said Southgate police Chief Randy Hall. He would not go into detail about specifics. Hall said there is no military presence in the area and that federal resources are available if needed.

"Our job is to make this event as uneventful as possible," Hall said. "We're not in a position to guarantee anything. We can only plan, predict, prepare and hope, and have a back-up plan."

Southgate Mayor Dennis David said the past few days have been calm as poll workers confirm registrations and prepare the site for the influx of voters, he said.

"It's scary that what's happening overseas could go on right in our backyard," he said. "But we're comfortable with the security that we have."

Outcome and effect

MSU political science professors and Michigan politicians have varying opinions on the election and its impact.

U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said despite being against the war, America must try and move on and hold the elections.

"No matter whether we were critical or not, the next step, we hope will work, and we've got to put all of our efforts into making that next step work, and into supporting our troops no matter where people were on the issue," Levin said in an e-mail.

Sylvia Warner, spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Brighton, said for Iraq to have an election is a big achievement.

"We see this as being one of the first steps in a long journey," Warner said. Rogers has traveled to Iraq several times in recent years.

Retired 84-year-old MSU Professor Fauzi Najjar, of East Lansing, said he thought the standards for voting were too lenient, and allow too many people voting eligibility.

Najjar said the United States is pushing for the elections so they can pull out of the country soon.

"Essentially they are trying to mobilize enough votes to make the election legitimate," Najjar said. "The game is exposed."

MSU political science Professor Paul Abramson said no one can predict the outcome.

"I don't think there's anyone on this planet that could know what's going to happen on the day of or after the elections," Abramson said. "There's just no way to predict."

Staff writers Claire Cummings, Amy Davis, Josh Jarman, Rebecca McNulty and Lauren Phillips contributed to this report.