Iraqis defy attacks to cast votes

Blasts killed at least 24 people and wounded dozens in Baghdad as Iraqis voted on today in a general election that al Qa'eda threatened to sabotage, an interior ministry official said. Sixteen people died when two buildings in the capital were blown up in what appeared to be dynamite attacks that wounded a further 16, officials said. Four people were killed by mortar attacks in Baghdad and four more in bomb attacks that between them wounded 40, security officials said. Roadside bombs wounded two in the capital and three near Tikrit, the hometown of the ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, officials said. Other Iraqi cities across Iraq were hit by mortar attacks and bombs but there were no immediate reports of casualties.