Polling ends in Iraq, 38 killed

As many as 16 people were killed while 8 injured in 10 mortar attacks and four bomb blasts in Iraq, while polling is continued for parliamentary elections. Mortar rounds were fired at voting centers in Baghdad and in Salahuddin province.At least two mortar rounds struck near polling stations in a mixed Sunni-Shi'ite area of western Baghdad and there were unconfirmed reports of rounds landing in the heavily-fortified Green Zone neighborhood, an Interior Ministry source said.Two roadside bombs also exploded in Baghdad, the source said.There were no reports of casualties in the capital.In Salahuddin, three people were wounded by mortar impacts in the town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.Voting across the ethnically and religiously divided country began at 7 am.The election, Iraq's second for a full-term parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion, is viewed as pivotal as the country tries to end sectarian violence and set the stage for stability and economic growth ahead of a US withdrawal by end-2011.