Italy's Premier Silvio Berlusconi, a strong U.S. ally in Iraq, expressed hopes for high voter turnout in Iraq's landmark elections Sunday and said Italy would continue to support the country as it embarks on a path toward democracy. Italy has about 3,000 troops in Iraq helping to train election workers and to help rebuild the country. «I hope that Iraqi citizens exercise their right to choose and determine the future of their country for the first time,» Berlusconi said in a statement Saturday. «A large voters' participation is important.» Iraqis will be choosing a 275-member National Assembly and provincial councils in Iraq's 18 provinces. Voters in the Kurdish self-ruled area of the north will select a new regional parliament. «Terrorists are terrorized by freedom and democracy, and for this reason they oppose free elections,» Berlusconi said. «Italy will keep supporting the political process in Iraq so that all ethnic, religious and political groups can gain new prospects of peace.»
