The foreign secretary has told MPs that the elections in Iraq were "a moving demonstration of democracy and freedom".

Speaking in the Commons on Monday Jack Straw said the Sunday poll was a vindication of the "values to which people everywhere aspire".

However the statement was overshadowed by the news that 10 British troops died in a plane crash in the country on the same day.

He confirmed that nine RAF personnel and one Army soldier lost their lives when their Hercules plane came down.

Straw sent his "deepest condolences and sympathy to their families and comrades".

He described the events as a "tragic crash" and reported that the site had been "secured" and an investigation begun.

However he said it would be "wrong at this stage to speculate about the possible cause" amid speculation that it might have been the result of a terrorist attack.

Ballot

Straw said the elections had proved to be a success which would provide a platform for the post-war country to rebuild.

Turnout, estimated at around 60 per cent, represented "a substantial proportion of the Iraqi population" he claimed.

Results are expected within the next 10 days and would be verified by February 20, the Commons was told.

"Only two years ago Iraq was still under the sway of one of the most brutal of dictators," Straw said.

Elections were for "just one candidate, a man who had been flouting the will of the United Nations for years".

"Yesterday however, the elections took place under the supervision of the United Nations."

"We have seen the determination of the Iraqi people to build a peaceful and democratic country," he added.

"We now need to support them as they continue that process."

Earlier he said there had been "condescending" sceptics had been proved wrong over whether the country was ready for elections.

"What yesterday shows is that democracy is a value which flows in the veins of every citizen of the world, including those poor people in Iraq who have been denied that opportunity for such a long time," he told the BBC's Today programme.

Response

Shadow foreign secretary Michael Ancram said the successful election had been the "longstanding goal of all of us who supported this war".

The Conservative spokesman added that it was "good for Iraq... good for democracy and good for the region".

For the Liberal Democrats, who opposed the war, Sir Menzies Campbell said it would be "churlish not to support the courage of the ordinary citizens of Iraq who have voted in such numbers".

However he argued that "this is no time for triumphalism... merely a beginning".

Straw insisted that he was not triumphant, but merely relieved the elections had passed off peacefully and called on the Lib Dems to "take responsibility for the consequences" of their position on the war.

But leading anti-war Labour MP Robin Cook backed calls for a timetable to be set for the withdrawal of British troops, pointing out that nearly all candidates had called for an exit strategy.

"Now that the forces of democracy have been unleashed in Iraq there is an obligation on us to listen to the Iraqi people and their elected representatives," he said.

The statement came as Tony Blair prepared to hold telephone discussions with President Bush.

Downing Street said the Iraqi turnout "was very, very encouraging".

"Turnout appears to have been high in the north and the south and better than expected in the centre," said a spokesman.

"We saw pictures of people queuing to vote in Fallujah and extra polling stations being opened in Mosul.

"We want to work with our international partners to help the new Iraqi government when it is formed."