The voting will continue until March 7th in five polling stations in Beirut and across Lebanon.

There are 23 poll centres spread out in Syria, twenty of them are in Damascus and its suburbs.

Two are in Aleppo and one in Homs, to serve about one million Iraqis living in Syria.

Polling stations have also opened their doors across Jordan, to welcome Iraqi asylum seekers who started to cast their vote.

Jordanian authorities imposed heavy security around polling stations.

Jordan also promised to close its eyes to  Iraqis without valid residency, in a bid to encourage more voters to turn out.

The Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission said it opened 16 election centres in the Jordanian capital Amman,  and nearby cities to accommodate nearly 180-thousand eligible voters.

The majority of Iraqis in Jordan are sunnis, who arrived after 2003, and the rise of sectarian violence in the war torn country.

Most Sunnis boycotted the previous elections as a result of perceived disenfranchisement,  which fuelled a ferocious insurgency.
   
More Sunnis  intend to take part in this year´s polls, which will be a major test of the fragile sectarian peace in Iraq.