Allawi's Iraqiya narrowly beats Iraq PM

Allawi's secular Iraqiya list won two seats more than the State of Law Alliance led by Maliki, a fellow Shiite.

 

But Iraqiya failed to clinch an overall majority in the Iraqi parliament, with Allawi vowing after the results to "work with all sides" to form a government.

Maliki, however, refused to accept the results, telling a press conference in Baghdad following the release of the official figures on Friday that they remained "preliminary".

 

"The election results are not final," said the prime minister, who has previously called for a nationwide manual recount of votes, alleging irregularities in the counting process.

 

Security officials have warned a long period of coalition building could give insurgents and Al-Qaeda a chance to further destabilise Iraq, with deadly bomb attacks northeast of Baghdad on Friday illustrating their concerns.

 

The results were announced shortly after twin bomb attacks in the central town of Khales killed 42 people and left 65 others wounded, according to security and medical sources.

 

The US ambassador to Baghdad and the top American military commander in Iraq, in a joint statement, gave their blessing to the outcome.

 

"We support the findings of international and independent Iraqi observers, who ... have found that there is no evidence of widespread or serious fraud," said Ambassador Christopher Hill and General Ray Odierno.

 

The results come around five months before the United States is due to withdraw all of its combat troops from Iraq, and Washington will be keen to see a smooth outcome from the election.

 

"We will work with all sides, whether they won or did not win in the election, to form the next government," Allawi said in a television interview immediately after the results were announced.

 

In a separate interview, he later vowed: "Iraqiya will open its heart to all political forces and all those who want to build Iraq, and we will together bury political sectarianism."

 

Fireworks were set off and celebratory gunfire was heard in central Baghdad as car drivers, some with Iraqi flags protruding from the windows, honked their horns at crossroads after the figures were published.

 

At Iraqiya's political headquarters on Zaitun street in central Baghdad, supporters jubilantly tooted horns and greeted Allawi upon his arrival by shouting his name in unison.

 

The results released by Iraq's election commission in Baghdad's heavily-fortified Green Zone showed Allawi won 91 seats in the nationwide poll, the second since Saddam Hussein was ousted in the 2003 US-led invasion.

 

State of Law won 89 seats in the 325-member parliament, followed by the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, with 70 seats.

Kurdistania, comprised of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant blocs, won 43 seats.

 

Iraqiya gained most of its seats from Sunni-majority areas, while State of Law won mostly in Shiite-dominated areas. But Allawi's bloc also managed to pick up 12 seats in mainly Shiite southern provinces, bolstering its total.

 

All parties have three days to submit complaints, which will then be investigated by the election commission. It will likely be two weeks before Iraq's supreme court certifies the results.

 

Allawi's victory signals he will be given the first opportunity to form a government, which would require a coalition holding at least a majority of 163 seats.

 

If he fails to do so within 30 days, Iraq's president, who himself is elected by parliament, would choose the leader of another bloc to try to form a coalition government.

 

Before Friday's figures were released, State of Law threatened not to recognise results it sees as tainted, which could plunge Iraq into political crisis, and organised several demonstrations in provinces where it fared well.

 

The UN envoy to Iraq, though, hailed the election as "credible" and called on all parties to accept the outcome.

 

"It is the UN's considered opinion that these elections have been credible and we congratulate the people of Iraq for this success," Ad Melkert told a press conference on Friday.