Saddam Hussein did not vote in Iraq's historic election but he could have done if he had turned up at a polling station, officials said on Tuesday. The former dictator was eligible to vote as an Iraqi citizen with no criminal record. Despite being accused of crimes against humanity and genocide, he has not been convicted.

"If Saddam had wanted to vote he would have been entitled to do so but he would have had to go to a polling station in person," said Farid Ayar, spokesman for Iraq's Electoral Commission.

There was no system for absentee voting in Iraq in Sunday's election, though many Iraqis living abroad cast ballots.

The US military, which is holding Saddam in a camp near Baghdad airport, confirmed that the ousted ruler had not voted.

Copyright Reuters, 2005