Al-Qaeda to Iraqis: Vote and Die

Al-Qaeda is threatening to kill Iraqis who vote in Sunday's elections, and has proclaimed a 6am-to-6pm curfew "throughout Iraq and especially in Sunni areas." Sunnis boycotted the 2005 elections but are expected to turn out in force for this year's vote, which has already begun for Iraqis living overseas. Anyone who violates the ban will "expose himself to the anger of Allah," the terror group said.

Nevertheless, clerics at services today urged their followers to go to the polls, AFP reports. "Even if you don't want to vote, go to the voting centers to destroy your electoral papers so they cannot be forged by others fraudulently," a Sunni imam in Baquba told his congregation.