Iraq's interim leader urged unity Monday, one day after millions of Iraqis braved the threat of violence and long lines to vote in a historic election.

Polling stations finished the first-phase count of the ballots from the weekend election that many Iraqis hope will usher in democracy.

From the counts by individual stations, local centers will prepare tally sheets and send them to Baghdad. There, vote totals will be compiled, said election Commission official Adel al-Lami.

"We are entering a new era of our history and all Iraqis -- whether they voted or not -- should stand side by side to build their future," said interim leader Ayad Allawi.

"Now is a suitable time for us to work together so that the whole world can watch the capabilities of this great country."

Official numbers are expected in about 10 days.

The 275-member National Assembly, elected for an 11-month term, will draft a permanent constitution.

If the document is approved, Iraqis will vote for a permanent government in December. If the document is rejected, Iraqis will repeat the whole process again.

"There's a long process ahead for the people of Iraq, reported CTV's Lisa LaFlamme from Baghdad, "but they are still basking in the celebration of having exercised their right yesterday."

Violence, threats by insurgents continue

Many Iraqis exercised that right despite ongoing threats from the insurgents.

Iraqi authorities say 38 attacks were carried out across the country on Sunday. In one particularly disturbing report, Iraq's interior minister, Falah al-Naqib, said insurgents used a handicapped child as a suicide bomber.

Baghdad was particularly hard-hit. Eight suicide bombers blew up near polling stations in Iraq's capital city, killing themselves and 19 others.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, claimed responsibility for several attacks in a statement posted on the Web.

The group issued a website warning that it was going to renew its jihad.

On Monday, an Iraqi militant group claimed responsibility for downing a military transport plane carrying 10 British soldiers, who are now missing and presumed dead.

Despite the violence, the joy of participating in the first relatively-free election in a half century was apparent. Many of the images from the region showed proud Iraqis holding up an ink-stained finger.

"You can't imagine the happiness we are living in," Iraqi election monitor Sunduz al Shimeri told CTV's Canada AM.

Allawi said the vote showed that "terrorists now know that they cannot win."

Turnout was highest in Shiite and Kurdish-dominated areas.

Officials estimated more than 57 per cent of eligible Iraqi voters participated. That would mean a turnout of eight million for the 14 million eligible to vote. Iraq's population is 25 million.

About 93 per cent of the 280,000 Iraqi voters registered abroad cast absentee ballots, said the Geneva-based International Organization for Migration, which organized the vote.

World leaders praise poll

U.S. President George Bush called the election "a resounding success" and congratulated the Iraqi people on "this great and historic achievement.

"Across Iraq today men and women have taken rightful control of their country's destiny and they have chosen a future of freedom and peace," he said.

In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair called the election "moving" and "humbling."

French President Jacques Chirac spoke with Bush by telephone, saying he was satisfied by the "participation rate and the good technical organization" of the election.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also praised the elections, calling them "a step in the right direction and a positive event," according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.

Iranian government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh said the elections were "held freely" but under "difficult circumstances."

His comments were a far cry from his warning in December that the elections could not be fair amid a continuing U.S.-led occupation.

Sunday's historic election came less than two years after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, and only seven months after Iraq's interim government took over from a U.S.-led coalition.

It will see the election of a 275-member National Assembly, which will name a new government, draft a constitution, and prepare for new elections to take place in Iraq on Dec. 15.

The vote was also deemed a success by Canadian election monitor Les Campbell, who said it went "beyond almost anyone's expectations."

"Seeing the enthusiasm, seeing the resolve to go out in the middle of many explosions and gunfire and so on to vote, and just the happiness at being able to cast that vote was something that was really infectious," Campbell told CTV's Canada AM.

The Sunni vote

But there are fears that Sunday's results may be discredited by Sunni voters.

Sunni clerics and others had called for a boycott of the vote, and analysts say an inadequate turnout from the Sunni population, which comprises about 20 per cent of Iraqis, could affect the vote's credibility.

Campbell, however, said reports suggest a large number of Sunnis did vote in places such as Fallujah and Ramadi, and Kirkuk, which has been a troubled area.

". . . the numbers will be lower for sure in the Sunni population, but higher than I would have probably anticipated," said Campbell, who is with the International Mission for Iraqi Elections (IMIE), which is based in Amman, Jordan.

While the IMIE generally praised the Iraqi electoral commission it had some recommendations for improvement:

• Transparency regarding financial contributions and expenditures;
• Improvements to the voter registration process; and
• Reviewing the criteria for candidate eligibility.

Canada has provided $7 million Cdn to support IMIE, which will be helping out with other votes planned for Iraq. Those include a referendum on a national constitution and parliamentary elections.

With a report from CTV's Lisa LaFlamme and files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press