PARIS, Oct 16: The referendum on the Iraqi constitution was hailed internationally on Sunday as a key step towards democracy and stability, and what Washington called a bad day for terrorists.

With the results not yet known, both western countries and the Arab Gulf states congratulated the Iraqis on holding the vote, hoping the process would bring back security to the troubled country.

Arab League Secretary-General Amr Mussa said Iraq’s vote was a “step in the right direction”, while noting the need for national reconciliation.

US President George W. Bush congratulated Iraqis for turning out to vote, describing the referendum as “a positive day.”

“On behalf of the American people, I’d like to congratulate the people of Iraq for successful completion of a vote on a draft constitution,” Bush said.

“This is a very positive day for the Iraqis and as well for world peace,” he told reporters at the White House.

Earlier, a State Department official said the high turnout, scant violence and balloting broadly free and transparent, made it “a bad day for terrorists”.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the draft constitution had probably passed and Iraqis’ involvement in their country’s political process was “bad news for terrorists.”

“It’s very clear that the Iraqi people are now invested in this political process,” Rice told Fox News Sunday from London.

“And whatever happens with the referendum, the Iraqi people clearly are taking advantage of the political process to make their views known, and that’s bad news for the terrorists,” she said.

In London, a government spokesman said after Rice and Blair had met that “they were greatly encouraged by the level of participation in the referendum and look forward to the political process continuing through to elections in December, and beyond.”

Moscow also welcomed the vote, saying it was “already possible to ascertain that a necessary step has been taken along the political path set out by United Nations resolution 1546,” referring to a document setting forth steps for rebuilding Iraq.

Japan praised the Iraq government for staging the referendum, saying it was “carried out without major troubles. Japan welcomes it as an important step towards the development of the political process.”

In the Gulf state of Kuwait, the government “hoped that this achievement is a step that will help Iraq regain its security and stability, and allow it to use its capacities toward rebuilding and development,” a statement said.

In Bahrain, the government also “welcomed the Iraqi people’s vote in the referendum on the new Iraqi draft constitution”.

“The council (of ministers) hopes that the success of this step would reflect positively on Iraq, its security, stability, unity, progress and prosperity of its brotherly people,” it said in a statement.

The Arab League’s Mussa told a Cairo news conference he hoped the results would soon be announced but “in parallel, one must work towards national reconciliation, a general understanding of the country’s future and the preservation of its territorial unity and stability and relations between its various communities.”

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also congratulated the Iraqi people, saying the referendum represented a chance for the country to move away from violence and towards unity.

“For the second time this year, the people of Iraq have braved difficult conditions and the threat of violence to exercise the vote,” a statement issued by Annan’s spokesman said, calling the referendum “an important opportunity for the Iraqi people to express their political views.”

The Russian foreign ministry in Moscow hailed the political compromises that preceded Saturday’s referendum.

“The achievement of compromises serves the interests of all ethnic-confessional communities. This creates conditions for a normalisation of the internal situation and a successful solution to the tasks of socio-economic development,” said a statement.

“Russia for its part is ready to provide Iraq every kind of assistance in overcoming current difficulties, building and strengthening its new statehood and restoring the national economy.”

Like France and Germany, Russia opposed the US-led intervention in Iraq.

There was no immediate reaction on Sunday evening from Germany or France to the referendum in Iraq.—AFP