Leading Iraq war opponents France, Germany and Russia hailed elections in the country as a first step on the road to democracy on Monday and pledged to back US efforts to restore stability. In a greater than expected turnout, up to 8 million Iraqis cast ballots on Sunday, braving suicide bombs and mortar attacks by insurgents that killed 35 people. Despite their concerns over the low turnout among minority Sunnis, European Union officials joined Washington in declaring the poll a success, three weeks before a February 22 summit with President George W. Bush meant to relaunch transatlantic ties.
"This is an initial victory for the Iraqi people and it is a first important step which was vital for the democracy and political process we are hoping for and working on," French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier told France's Europe 1 radio.
"We are on the right path but that road is still long and risky," he said before EU foreign ministers met in Brussels to study the poll, whose result is due in 10 days.
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said Berlin still believed it was right to have opposed the war but wanted to look to the future and what it could do to help in Iraq.
"The decision of many Iraqis to go to the polls deserves very great recognition," he told reporters in Brussels.
"The challenge of putting Iraq on a stable democratic footing is one we must all take on together - within the political limits we have set," he said, reaffirming Germany's refusal to send troops to Iraq.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the election as "a step in the right direction" and told ministers at a government session to work for Iraq's future stability.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said it was vital that the Sunnis - who make up just 20 percent of the population but had a privileged role under ousted leader Saddam Hussein - had a say in constructing Iraq's new democracy.
"All the different factions and different sensitivities should participate in the drafting of the constitution," he told Reuters in an interview, referring to a document to be drawn up later this year ahead of new elections scheduled for December.
A draft of a communique to be issued by ministers after the meeting echoed that concern, calling for the "full involvement of all sections of Iraqi society in this political process".