POLLING officials counted votes by candlelight last night as Iraq counted its dead after an election that divided the country.

As night fell and power supplies failed, jubilant voters in the north and south cleared from the streets in darkness.

In the capital and around the heart of the country, where at least 44 people were killed in insurgent attacks, an election curfew came into force with families reflecting on a day of renewed bloodshed.

Officials said turnout among the 14 million eligible voters appeared higher than the 57 per cent that had been predicted, while UN officials described the process as "representative and fair".

Tony Blair hailed the elections as "a blow right to the heart of global terrorism".

Speaking at 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister said that the "force of freedom had been felt throughout the country".

But Iraq's first democratic election in a generation came at a price.

A string of suicide bombs across Baghdad claimed many lives, with militants infiltrating voting queues before detonating their explosives.

The catalogue of violence in Iraq included two suicide bombers at opposite ends of the capital, which killed at least ten voters and injured six, while four policemen were reported dead in separate suicide attacks.

South of the capital, three people died in an explosion on a bus carrying Sunni Arabs to a polling station.

In the Sadr City district, a further four were killed and seven wounded in a mortar attack on a voter centre.

Four others wer reported dead in Baghdad attacks and a guard was killed in an assassination attempt on the interim justice minister.

Explosions were reported in Mosul, Baquba and as far south as Basra, where voters flocked to polls.

The Shia dominated south and Kurdish north hailed the election as a resounding success, claiming a turnout of as high as 70 per cent.

It proved a stark contrast to the rebel towns of Fallujah and Ramadi, where insurgent violence stopped all attempts at polling.

In the southern town of Az Zubayr, voters filled the air with singing, chanting and celebratory gunfire until nightfall.

At a counting centre in the town, like locations across Iraq, ballot boxes were emptied and began to offer a glimpse of the future of the country.

Counting officials from the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq worked with torches and candles as electricity failed.

One official said: "Here we have had a very successful day.

"People from every region came to join our election here. Some voters told us they had travelled days ago to be in Az Zubayr.

"Everyone was happy and excited, it has been a great day."

US President George Bush congratulated the Iraqi people on an election that he said was a resounding success.

Speaking from the White House he said: "The world is hearing the voice of freedom from the centre of the Middle East.

"In great numbers and in great risk, Iraqis have shown their commitment to democracy."

Mr Bush said the courage shown throughout Iraq was the foundation of self-government.

British MEP Baroness Emma Nicholson, who travelled to southern Iraq to see the elections, said it had been a momentous occasion.

"The Iraqi people are saying that this is their first day of freedom," she said.

"Iraq has turned the corner."

The votes will be delivered by armed guard to regional centres, before they are recounted in Baghdad.

It is still not known when final results will be declared, with some estimating it could be weeks until those elected to the new 275-member national assembly are unveiled.

In the Kurdish north, polls were held to elect a separate, autonomous authority, and across the country voters balloted for regional governments.

The national authority will draft laws and pave the way for further elections in December, when the people will decide on a fully-constitutional government.

But the Iraqis know that the violence and tension will not end with yesterday's vote.

With Shi'ite Muslims - about 60 per cent of the population - and the Kurdish community expected to dominate results as they are compiled, many are predicting further waves of violence from Sunni extremists