The West hailed Sunday's elections in Iraq while admitting that there is a great deal to do.

US President George W. Bush called Sunday's poll "a resounding success."

Hours after the election was closed, Bush praised in a televised statement the bravery of Iraqis who turned out to vote despite continuing violence and intimidation.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said earlier that the election was "going better than expected".

In an interview with ABC's "This Week" program, Rice conceded the poll was not perfect, but said it was a positive development no one had foreseen three years ago when Saddam Hussein was in power.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said there was still a great deal to do in helping grow Iraq's democracy as he hailed the Iraq elections as a success.

"Now we will have to sit down with the new Iraqi government once formed, and work out a way forward to help Iraq's democracy grow, to build the capacity of the Iraqi forces to handle their own security and to make sure the large sums set aside for reconstruction can be spent to improve the lives of the people of Iraq," Blair said in a statement.

Also on Sunday, French government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope told French private Europe 1 radio that the high participation rate of the Iraqis in their elections is "a piece of good news" and a "success for the international community."

Bela Anda, a spokesman for German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, said: "Voter participation ... particularly in the Kurdish and Shiite areas, is to be viewed as an expression of the firm resolve of the majority of Iraqis to take their country's future into their own hands."

Berlin believed that all ethnic and religious groups of the country should be associated with the political process now.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told a press conference in the Nigerian capital of Abuja that Iraqis must be encouraged to take control of their own destiny.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana extended his congratulations Sunday to the Iraqis for the election, and praised the race as "an important step forward for Iraq."

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hailed the election as "a milestone," acknowledging at the same time that there is still a long way to go.

In a statement issued immediately after the end of the poll, the NATO chief said Iraq should build its capacity to provide security in the country as soon as possible. "They must also develop, as quickly as possible, the capacity to provide their own security. The international community must do its full part to help."

"NATO has already begun, by responding to the Iraqi request to train and equip Iraqi security forces, and the alliance will increase that support in the coming months," he said.

Security was tight during the one-day election. Iraqi authorities and US forces took exceptional measures to prevent insurgents from sabotaging the voting process, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew and restrictions on vehicle movement.

However, suicide bomb attacks swept through the country, killing dozens and wounding many more.

Polling officially closed across Iraq at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Sunday. Ballot counting has begun at some 5,300 polling centers across the country and the final results were expected within 10 days.

Despite the violence, election officials said the turnout was higher than expected. They originally put it at 72 percent but later backtracked, saying possibly 8 million out of Iraq's 13 million registered voters had cast their ballots.