UN election advisor says Iraq vote going well

The United Nation's election advisor in Iraq said today that voter turnout is exceeding expectations. Carlos Valenzuela did not give any statistics, but he said that according to first reports attendance at polling booths "in some parts" of the country, is higher than expected. Valenzuela noted that people were queuing up even in the northern city of Mosul, the scene of violence for months. The UN advisor said that some polls had not opened initially around western Baghdad and the stretch of Sunni towns south of the capital, known as the Triangle of Death. But he said that later the problem was resolved. Electoral staff in the Sunni areas have received death threats from insurgents. alenzuela has consistently expressed optimism over Iraq's elections despite the difficult security situation on the ground.