Hala Jaber (left), Sunday Times correspondent in Baghdad, warns that the real trouble may now be about to start

"For what its worth, the election did go much, much better than many expected, both from the point of view of turnout, and from the point of view of security. After all, the Ministry of the Interior's official figure of 36 killed, mostly civilians, is not really a high price in a country where daily you have such numbers dying in one way or another.

"Al-Zarqawi's statement that the attacks by his militant group has 'spoiled the election wedding' is typical rhetoric, and fuel for a cynical smile. Al-Zarqawi says a lot, but then he has to, to encourage the insurgency.

"This time he and his group have failed, although whether intentionally or unintentionally remains to be seen.

"One of my theories has been that maybe today the militants will play things fairly low key, as security is at its highest. Then they will do the real damage during the week, when the security dwindles and the country is back to normal.

"Soon the security forces who have been working for days non-stop are going to have to be relieved and sent home to have a rest.

"So Iraq was at its safest today, but we should remember at what cost. The only way they finally achieved it was with total curfews, effectively closing down the whole country, banning traffic and with nearly 30,000 troops on the streets, and with airports and borders closed. The peace was lovely, but not practical on a daily basis.

"Meanwhile, though it is true that 60 per cent of registered voters did turn out and vote, that leaves 40 per cent who did not. Half will have been Sunnis, who make up 20 per cent of Iraq's population, while the remaining 20 per cent will be a mixture of secular Iraqis, technocrats, Christians and other minorities who simply abstained.

"Of the 14 million or so who registered they were expecting around 8 million participation, and they got that. But nevertheless that still leaves a large section of the population seething, unsatisfied and very discontented."

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