US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that Iraqis had probably approved a draft constitution in a historic referendum, a vote she said could reduce insurgent violence.
"Most people assume on the ground that it probably has passed," Ms Rice told reporters during a visit to London.
She hailed the turnout, particularly in Sunni Arab areas, where she said there had been a large increase in voter numbers compared to parliamentary elections in January.
Early counts from yesterday's referendum indicated the vote split as expected along largely communal lines, reflecting the bitter ethnic and religious tensions that have cost thousands of Iraqi lives since the US-led invasion in 2003
Basing her figures on reports from officials in Iraq, Ms Rice said the overall turnout was about 63-64 per cent, which was also higher than in January.
However, Iraq's Salahaddin province, one of at least three with a Sunni Arab majority that might combine to veto the draft constitution, voted 'No' by 70 per cent in the referendum, an electoral official said today. The provinical capital Tikrit is the hometown of Saddam Hussein.
The results were not final and were subject to further counts, electoral officials said.
With a second Sunni-populated province, Anbar, likely to reject the charter by an even greater margin, much depends on whether a third province also produces a two-thirds 'No' vote.
With hefty votes for the constitution recorded in mainly Shia southern provinces and also expected in Kurdistan, an overall national majority in favour is widely forecast. But if three of 18 provinces vote by at least two-thirds to reject the charter, it will fail under a clause originally written in by Kurdish negotiators to protect their interests.
No overall voting figures were available for Anbar, where fighting and fear of insurgents kept many polling stations closed.
In the two other provinces where 'No' majorities are seen as possible - Nineveh, centred on Mosul in the north, and Diyala, around Baquba, northeast of Baghdad- no results were available.
In the solidly Shia provinces of Kerbala and Najaf, south of Baghdad, local electoral officials put the 'Yes' vote at 85 percent.