The checks delayed an announcement of the results of the vote on a charter that seeks to frame democratic foundations for a new Iraq following the toppling of former dictator Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.

Saddam himself is to face trial amid ultra-tight security on Wednesday along with three close aides and four other members of the disbanded Baath party on a charge of killing 143 Shiite villagers in 1982.

Confusion has surrounded the ballot count since Iraqis voted on the draft constitution Saturday, and election officials announced Monday that the results would be delayed after unusually high figures were reported.

"The first controls are now taking place," in what would eventually be a nationwide audit, a senior electoral official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We are not ruling out technical error or fraud, but for now it is only a question of anomalies."

Problems with initial figures transmitted to the Independent Electoral Commission were found in southern Shiite provinces as well as in Kurdish areas in the north, where the numbers of 'yes' votes were very high, the source said.

Sunni Arabs were largely opposed to the text, fearing it could lead to the break-up of Iraq and the placing of its vast oil wealth in the hands of Shiites and Kurds.

"When you have more than 90 percent 'yes', computers signal it immediately and there is a manual check. It means the figures must be looked at closely," the source said.

Sunnis Arabs, "appear to have played by the rules," the source said.

The constitution will be adopted if a majority of voters approve it but will be rejected if two-thirds of voters in three or more governorates cast their ballots against it.

Under last-minute changes agreed in a bid to win Sunni support, however, a panel is to mull further revisions to the charter following general elections in December.

In Baghdad, workers bathed in pale neon light checked and rechecked vote counts after the electoral commission said it would take "several more days to complete this difficult and complex operation".

Commission spokesman Farid Ayyar told AFP the figures in question referred to the percentage of 'yes' and 'no' votes, rather than rates of participation.

"This will require re-examination, comparison and verification because they are relatively high compared with international averages for elections," a commission statement said.

"The commission will only announce results when they have been verified."

It had already said that six majority Shiite provinces in southern Iraq had voted by more than 90 percent in favor of the constitution, while two Sunni-dominated provinces appeared to have rejected the text, by 80 percent in Salaheddin and by 54 percent in Diyala.

There are majority Sunni populations in four provinces -- Al-Anbar, Diyala, Nineveh and Salaheddin.

Results from volatile, western province of Al-Anbar, and Nineveh in the north that includes the mixed city of Mosul were therefore crucial.

"The general trend in Al-Anbar is 'no'," commission president Adel al-Lami said, without giving further details.

On Monday, US President George W. Bush said Sunnis had sent a hopeful sign by voting in large numbers -- even those that opposed the charter.

"I was pleased to see that the Sunnis have participated in the process. The idea of deciding to go into a ballot box is a positive development," the president said.

The ballots were cast three years to the day after Iraq's last referendum, which confirmed Saddam's grip on the country.

The poll also came just days before Saddam and the seven others were to stand trial for the 1982 murder of Shiites from the village of Dujail, north of Baghdad following a failed attack on Saddam's convoy.

The accused face the death penalty by hanging if convicted.

The outlawed Baath party called Tuesday for supporters to launch attacks on US and Iraqi forces at the start of Saddam's trial, according to an Internet statement whose authenticity could not be verified.

"Salute the leader once he makes a public appearance at the trial by firing bullets and mortars of death at the occupier, its men, equipment and bases, as well as agents in the army and the symbols of treason," it said.

On the ground, two US marines were killed Monday in fighting near the town of Ar-Rutbah in Al-Anbar province, the military said.

Their deaths followed air strikes around the town of Ramadi by US jets and helicopters which the military said had killed around 88 insurgents. However television reports and a hospital source in Ramadi said children and other civilians were among the victims.

In southern Baghdad, a councillor at the Iraqi industry ministry, Ayed Abdel Yusef, was shot dead Tuesday as he left his home, police said.

A man died when a shell crashed into an apartment building on Baghdad's Abu Nawass street, security officials said, and a policeman was killed and a girl seriously hurt as gunmen opened fire in Baaquba, to the north of the capital.

Copyright © 2005AFP.

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