Today's front pages are dominated by coverage of Iraq's first free elections in 50 years.

Speaking in Downing Street on Sunday, Tony Blair hailed "the birth of Iraq's new democracy".

The prime minister also paid tribute to the British troops killed in a plane crash north of Baghdad yesterday. Reports suggest at least nine soldiers were killed.

The Ministry of Defence and Army chiefs are investigating whether the plane - a Hercules transporter - was forced down by a missile or engine failure.

Liberal Democrat spokesman Paul Keetch said the crash was "a tragic but inevitable consequence of Britain’s involvement in Iraq."

"It is doubly sad that their loss occurs on the same day as Iraq has gone to the polls," he said.

"We can only wish that their sacrifice can help build a democratic Iraq."

Meanwhile, initial estimates from Iraq's electoral commission have put the national turnout at up to 60 per cent, but officials warned this was based on "impressions and feelings" of local officials.

While President Bush, speaking after the polls had closed, declared the elections "a resounding success", Blair said it was "moving and humbling" to see the millions of Iraqis vote despite the dangers.

He went on to say that while the war had deeply divided British opinion "whatever views people have of how we came to this point, we all of us will want to embrace
the birth of Iraq's new democracy".

"It may have been the force of arms that removed Saddam and created the circumstances in which Iraqis could vote, but it was the force of freedom that was felt throughout Iraq today," he added.