BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) ?Iraq¡¯s president said on February 1 it would be ¡°complete nonsense?to ask foreign troops to leave the country now, although some could depart by year¡¯s end. Officials began the final vote tally from elections to produce a government to confront the insurgency.

Despite scattered clashes in rebel areas across the country, Iraq re-opened its borders on February 1 and commercial flights took off from Baghdad International Airport as authorities eased security restrictions imposed to protect last weekend¡¯s landmark voting.

In Baghdad, on February 1, about 200 election workers began the second ?and possibly final ?stage of the count. They reviewed tally sheets prepared by workers who counted ballots starting January 30 night at the 5,200 polling centres across the country and began crunching the numbers into 80 computer terminals.

The ballots themselves have also been sent to Baghdad, but will not be recounted unless there are challenges or discrepancies in the tally sheets, officials said.

January 30¡¯s election, which occurred without catastrophic rebel attacks, raised hopes that a new Iraqi Government would be able to assume greater responsibility for security, hastening the day when the 170,000 US and other foreign troops can go home.

During a news conference, President Ghazi al-Yawer was asked whether the presence of foreign troops might be fuelling the Sunni Arab revolt by encouraging rebel attacks.

¡°It¡¯s only complete nonsense to ask the troops to leave in this chaos and this vacuum of power,?said al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab.

He said foreign troops should leave only after Iraq¡¯s security forces are built up, the country¡¯s security situation has improved and some pockets of terrorists are eliminated.

¡°By the end of this year, we could see the number of foreign troops decreasing,?al-Yawer said.

Al-Yawer had been a strong critic of some aspects of the US military¡¯s performance in Iraq, including the three-week Marine siege of the Sunni rebel city of Fallujah in April.

Al-Yawer helped negotiate an end to that siege. But the city fell into the hands of insurgents and religious zealots, forcing the Marines to recapture Fallujah last November in some of the heaviest urban combat for American forces since the Viet Nam War.

¡°There were some mistakes?in the occupation ¡°but to be fair ... I think all in all it was positive, the contribution of the foreign forces in Iraq,?al-Yawer said. ¡°It was worth it.?

Later on February 1, Defence Minister Hazem Shaalan said Iraq would only ask US and other forces to leave when the country¡¯s own troops were capable of taking on insurgents.

¡°We don¡¯t want to have foreign troops in our country, but at the same time we believe that these forces should stay for some time until we are able to control the borders and establish a new modern army and we have efficient intelligence,?Shaalan told reporters. ¡°At that time ... we¡¯ll ask them to leave.?

Meanwhile, a website posted a photograph of what it claimed was a kidnapped US soldier, but doubts were quickly raised about its authenticity and the US military said no soldiers were missing.

Liam Cusack, of the toy manufacturer Dragon Models USA, inc, said the image of the soldier portrayed in the photo bore a striking resemblance to the African-American version of its ¡°Cody?action figure.

Staff Sgt Nick Minecci of the US military¡¯s press office in Baghdad said ¡°no units have reported anyone missing.?

The only US soldier known to have been taken hostage is Pfc Keith M Maupin, 20, who was shown in a video in April being held by militants. Another video aired in June showed what purported to be Maupin¡¯s slaying, but the picture was too unclear to confirm it was him and the military still lists him as missing.

In the latest violence, clashes broke out early February 1 in the eastern Mosul neighbourhood of Nablus between insurgents and Iraqi National Guards, officials said. One person was killed and another injured. A roadside bomb killed four Iraqi National Guardsmen in the northwest of the city, Lt Khalil Rashid said.

Two policemen were killed when a bomb they were trying to defuse exploded on a street in the Kurdish-run city of Irbil.

US troops clashed with insurgents on February 1 near the main market in Qaim near the Syrian border, sending crowds fleeing, witnesses said. There was no report of casualties.

With the election complete and the ballots safely in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities eased the severe security measures that had been put in place to protect the voters and polling centres. The hours of nighttime curfew were eased, now covering the period from 11 pm to 5 am.

Royal Jordanian Airlines and Iraqi Airways resumed flights to and from Baghdad. Cars, trucks and buses began crossing the border between Iraq and Syria at Tanaf. A five-mile line of trucks loaded with goods was waiting on the Syrian side to cross.

However, the Yarubiya crossing point which leads to the northern Iraqi city of Mosul remained closed.

Security measures for January 30¡¯s vote, including a ban on most private vehicles, were credited with preventing rebels from pulling off catastrophic attacks, although more than 40 people were killed in about 100 attacks on or near polling stations.

A statement posted on the Web on January 31 and attributed to an al-Qaida affiliate dismissed the vote as ¡°theatrics?and promised to continue waging ¡°holy war?against the US and their Iraqi allies.

A Shi¡¯ite clerical-backed alliance was expected to win the largest number of seats in the 275-member National Assembly created in the election. But the alliance is not expected to win the two-thirds majority required to name a prime minister without support from other parties.

Prime Minister Ayad Allawi¡¯s ticket was expected to finish second among the 111 candidate lists.

Officials have not released turnout figures, although it appeared that many Sunni Arabs stayed away from the polls, either out of fear of insurgent reprisals or opposition to an election under US occupation.

That has raised concern about further alienation among the country¡¯s Sunni Arabs, who form about 20 per cent of Iraq¡¯s 26 million people but whose role in the country¡¯s educational, technical and intellectual elite is much greater.

(Agencies via Xinhua)