* Voters queue for first free national poll in 60 years
* Authorities say 98 percent of polling stations open
* Protesters in Benghazi burn hundreds of ballots
* UK, EU hail vote despite security incidents (Adds UK and EU comments;
death in Benghazi; turnout)
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Hadeel Al Shalchi
TRIPOLI/BENGHAZI, July 7 (Reuters) - Libyans defied violence and boycott
calls to rush to the polls in their first free national election in 60 years
on Saturday, parting with the legacy of Muammar Gaddafi's dictatorship.
While the mood was jubilant in the capital Tripoli, the east of the country
was more troubled as anti-poll protesters seeking greater autonomy for a
region that is home to the bulk of Libya's vast oil resources sought to
disrupt the vote.
One man was shot dead by a security guard as he tried to steal a ballot box
in the eastern town of Ajdabiya. Another was killed in gunfire in a clash
between protesters and backers of the poll in Benghazi, cradle of last
year's uprising.
But as voting closed around the country, authorities said 98 percent of poll
centres had opened at some point during the day for the election for a
200-head assembly that will name a prime minister and pave the way for
parliamentary elections in 2013.
Candidates with Islamist agendas dominate the field of more than 3,700
hopefuls, suggesting Libya will be the next Arab Spring country - after
Egypt and Tunisia - to see religious parties secure a grip on power.
"I am a Libyan citizen in free Libya," said Mahmud Mohammed Al-Bizamti at a
poll centre in Tripoli. "I came today to be able to vote in a democratic
way. Today is like a wedding for us."
Zainab Masri, 50, a teacher in the capital, said she felt overwhelmed after
voting for the first time in her life.
"I can't describe the feeling. We paid the price, I have two martyrs in my
family. I am certain the future will be good, Libya will be successful," she
said, proudly showing off her inked finger that showed she had voted.
The election commission said after voting ended that 1.6 million of some 2.8
million registered voters had cast their ballot, a turnout of just under 60
percent.
In Benghazi, protesters stormed a polling station just after voting started
and set fire to hundreds of ballot slips in a public square in a bid to
undermine the election's credibility.
Witnesses said at least four polling stations had been hit in such attacks.
One man was shot in the arm and taken to hospital with heavy bleeding after
a clash between vote boycotters and those in favour of the election.
"There wasn't enough security at the station to stop the attackers," Nasser
Zwela, 28, told Reuters, saying protesters armed with assault rifles had
stormed one polling station and shouted at everyone to stop voting.
VOTING WITH TEARS
But Western supporters of the NATO-backed uprising that overthrew Gaddafi
dismissed suggestions that the violence showed the election lacked
legitimacy.
"Just one year ago, Libyans were still fighting against a brutal tyrant,"
said British Foreign Secretary William Hague, whose government was,
alongside France, a main player in the conflict.
"Today marks a further milestone towards realising Libyans' ambitions for a
peaceful, stable, prosperous and democratic country," he said.
A spokesman for European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said
Libyans had cast their votes and "decided their future in a dignified and
orderly manner".
Some voters struggled with procedures for casting their ballot. In one
central Tripoli district, two women disappeared into a voting booth together
before an election worker hurriedly explained they must vote alone.
"Some of these women are crying as they vote. It is such an emotional day,"
said one poll official.
Polls started closing at 8 pm but partial results are not due until Sunday
and a full preliminary count is not expected until Monday at the earliest.
Many easterners are angry that the east has been allotted only 60 seats in
the assembly compared with 102 for the west.
On Friday, armed groups shut off half of Libya's oil exports to press
demands for greater representation in the assembly. At least three major
oil-exporting terminals were affected.
"The country will be in a state of paralysis because no one in the
government is listening to us," Hamed al-Hassi, a former rebel who now heads
the High Military Council of Cyrenaica, the name of the eastern region, told
Reuters.
Port agents said the oil depot closures would last 48 hours but the
government sent a team on Saturday to negotiate a full reopening of a sector
that provides most of Libya's revenues.
Analysts say it is hard to predict the political make-up of the new
assembly, but parties and candidates professing an attachment to Islamic
values dominate and very few are running on an exclusively secular ticket.
The Justice and Construction offshoot of Libya's Muslim Brotherhood is
tipped to do well, as is al-Watan, the party of former CIA detainee and
Islamist insurgent Abdel Hakim Belhadj. (Additional reporting by
Marie-Louise Gumuchian in Tripoli and Taha Zargoun in Sirte; Writing by Mark
John; Editing by Janet Lawrence and Ralph Gowling)
C Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
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Received on Sat Jul 07 2012 - 18:24:27 EDT
