London, Jan. 28, SPA -- Emotions ran high as hundreds of jubilant British Iraqis arrived on Friday to vote in their country's historic election. Old, young, male and female queued patiently in the cold Wembley conference centre to exchange their registration receipts for ballots. They left polling stations with blue fingers from the semi-permanent ink used by election coordinators to identify voters. "Even if they covered me in ink from head to toe, I wouldn't mind -- that's how happy I am to be here," said Sara Mamand, an Iraqi Kurd who fled to England. Iraqis abroad are the first to begin voting in Sunday's election, the first since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S.-led forces which deposed former president Saddam Hussein. Mamand's sister Avesta said it was one of the best days of her life. "I wanted to come down in national Kurdish costume, which we wear when we celebrate important occasions, but my husband said it would be too cold," she told reporters. --More 1925 Local Time 1625 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/235240