Preliminary returns from Iraq’s recent general elections award Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s parliamentary squad the lead in the capital, Baghdad.

The prime minister’s Rule of Law coalition is reportedly trailed by the Iraqi National Alliance and former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Al-Iraqiya Alliance.

Maliki’s team also emerged victorious in two provinces to the south, the United Press International reported on Saturday.

Initial results since Thursday have put the Rule of Law in the lead in the predominantly-Shia southern provinces of Najaf, Babil, Karbala and Muthanna, AFP reported.

More than 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups contested the parliamentary elections on March 7, despite the prospects of violence and fear of subversion on the part of the loyalists to Baath — the outlawed party of the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The event kicked off following the disqualification of suspected Baath sympathizers. The elections day also saw more than 30 people killed in violent attacks.

Abbas al-Bayati, a senior member of Maliki’s coalition was, meanwhile, quoted by AFP as saying that the Rule of Law had formed a committee to begin negotiating with rival blocs to hammer out a government. “The committee met with representatives of four political entities that made progress in the elections,” he said.

This is while, Jamal al-Battikh from Allawi’s side is, recently told US-funded Radio Sawa that Al-Iraqiya might be deserted by a number of its members after they secure parliamentary seats.

A member of the Iraqiya List, a secular alliance of former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, says the bloc may break up after the release of legislative election results.

Jamal al-Battikh told US-funded Radio Sawa that a number of the bloc members may leave the alliance after they win seats on the council of representatives.

He said the bloc lacked coherence, adding that certain members were trying to quit the bloc as they held different views.

Headed by former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, the Iraqiya List is comprised of 20 political parties among which are Salah al-Mutlak’s National Dialogue Front and Ajeel Yawar’s party Reform and Justice Movement.

Five days after the elections, the initial results for five provinces have been released so far, with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition holding the lead.

The results for 13 other provinces are yet to be announced.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition holds the lead in Iraq’s legislative election, closely followed by rival Shias amid allegations of fraud from secularist Sunnis.

Partial results from Iraq’s tight election race coming out on Friday indicated Maliki’s State of Law coalition sets the pace with the powerful Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of major Shia parties, on its heels with only 16 percent behind.

The initial results for five provinces have been released so far, leaving the race too early to call as figures have yet to be announced for 13 other provinces. This is while the result is really difficult to foresee in key areas such as Baghdad, where the city’s 6-million strong population incorporate diverse ethnical and religious communities.

The parliamentary poll held amid highly tightened security on March 7 — the second such vote since the 2003invasion of the country by US-led forces — is viewed as a landmark test of democracy for the Iraqi government seven years after the ouster of former dictator Saddam Hussein.

The picture is, however, becoming increasingly more tainted by complaints of serious fraud from former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s secularist alliance, the Iraqiya List, which swept a noticeable majority of votes in two Sunni majority provinces in the north.

But the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) dismissed charges of serious fraud from Allawi’s camp, including reports that ballots were discovered in the garbage and more than 200,000 soldiers’ names were missing from voting lists.

“The process of counting and sorting ballots is going well, with the presence of observers from political parties and under international supervision,” Reuters quoted Hamdiya al-Husseini, a top IHEC official, as saying.

Five days after the election was held in Iraq, UN officials acknowledged the counting is taking longer than expected, but defended IHEC officials who have been citing a complicated system set up to thwart fraud.

Adding to the confusion in the counting process are technical challenges the IHEC suffered regarding the computer system used to enter polling data.

The system was slowed or was taken offline intermittently for maintenance, UN officials said. IHEC officials have, however, assured the problem was fixed now and that more initial results from at least another three provinces would be published on Friday.

On Thursday, Husseini said the electoral commission had received some 1,000 complaints over the vote, without providing further detail.

Ammar Hakim, Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq on Thursday met with Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali al-Sistani in Najaf and spoke of the last developments in the country as well as parliamentary election.

The two sides pointed out the participation of Iraqi people in the parliament election as a route for progress toward democracy and safeguarding the national achievements.

A member of Iraq’s National Alliance (INA) has warned that the US is possibly attempting to manipulate the results of the country’s general elections as the release of the vote tally was postponed again.

INA candidate, Entifadh Qanbar told Press TV that the United States might try to intervene in the process of vote counting through the High Electoral Commission.

“The concern is that how the ballots from each voting center are going to be processed in the computer center inside the Electoral Commission,” Qanbar said.

“The reason we are insisting on this issue is that we are afraid there is some sort of American intervention inside the Electoral Commission in processing these numbers and may be altering these numbers,” he added.

Qanbar said that his alliance would not “accept any election results without putting the ballots out to prove that the ballots have been processed and entered in the computer system in a proper way.”

The Election Commission has postponed until Thursday the announcement of the preliminary results of the country’s parliamentary elections with reports suggesting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s the State of Law Coalition is ahead.

Meeting with vote-counters at the Independent High Electoral Commission on Wednesday, top United Nations envoy Ad Melkert called on election officials to release the results as soon as possible, AP reported.

“Now we hope, that as soon as possible, preliminary results can be made public because Iraqis have the right to know as soon as possible what is the outcome of their choice of the Election Day,” Melkert said.

Election Commission officials also withdrew an earlier announcement that the preliminary results would be released Wednesday night.

According to Qassim al-Aboudi, a senior member of the panel, initial results would likely be released on Thursday.

Iraq’s election commission has postponed until Wednesday the announcement of the preliminary results in the country’s parliamentary election.

Preliminary results were expected on Tuesday with reports suggesting that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition is heading to victory.

“We have not reached the bar of 30 percent of votes counted, and there will not be an announcement today,” Hamdiyah al-Husseini, an official at Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission, said on Tuesday.

The complete results are expected to be announced on March 18 and the final official results will come at the end of the month.

Turnout in the parliamentary election was over 62 percent of the eligible 20 million voters who cast their votes under rains of rocket and mortar attacks by insurgents in and around the capital Baghdad.

Electoral authorities have warned politicians against making premature statements about their performance.

Reports, however, revealed that the State of Law coalition led by al-Maliki is likely to win the election.

“The State of Law Coalition list is leading among other lists in Baghdad and other southern provinces,” said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh on Tuesday.

Lawmaker Haider al-Ebadi, a State of Law candidate and member of Maliki’s Dawa party, said initial results suggested the coalition was ahead in 10 provinces.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Rule of Law coalition has claimed it is leading in the country’s parliamentary election, according to preliminary results.

The Rule of Law’s representatives say the list had come up trumps in Baghdad and the Shia south, the coalition’s Abbas al-Bayati was quoted as saying by the Associated Press early on Tuesday morning.

“We think that the Rule of Law coalition will shoulder the task of forming the next government,” he said.

Al-Maliki’s team could have secured 100 seats out of a total of 325 in nine of Iraq’s 18 provinces, The Irish Times reported on Tuesday.

AP also cited regional officials in other parties who had monitored local vote counts as saying that al-Maliki’s coalition was ahead.

The Irish Times quoted former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s Al-Iraqiya Alliance as claiming to have won majorities in five mainly Sunni provinces.

Almost 20 million Iraqis cast their ballots before the polling stations closed on Sunday afternoon.

Over 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups competed in the Council of Representatives election.

According to the United Nations, partial results will not be announced until Thursday, with full results expected on March 18.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Monday congratulated the Iraqi nation for the high turnout in the parliamentary vote on Sunday, despite threats and “enemy plots.”

In a statement, the ministry said the Iraqi people proved that the will of a nation determines its fate.

Iraq’s electoral body announced Monday afternoon that 62.4 percent of the eligible 20 million voters had cast their ballot in the elections amid rains of mortar and rocket attacks.

At least 38 people were killed and 110 others were wounded in and around Baghdad on the elections day.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry praised the high turnout as an act of great courage that could help improve democracy in Iraq, branding the elections as a turning point in the fight against occupation and dictatorship.

Iraq’s electoral body says the 62.4 percent of the eligible 20 million voters cast their ballot in the Sunday elections, despite rains of mortar and rocket attacks.

Hamdiyah al-Husseini, a senior official with the Independent High Electoral Commission, announced the final figure at a Monday news conference in Baghdad, AFP reported.

Husseini also gave a percentage breakdown for each of Iraq’s 18 provinces.

The turnout was particularly high in the country’s autonomous northern Kurdish region, with 80 percent of voters in Dohuk casting ballots.

At least 38 people were killed and 110 others were wounded in and around Baghdad in the day of parliamentary elections.

The results are expected to be announced on Thursday.

Early results from Iraq’s parliamentary elections show Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the lead.

Local officials said Maliki’s political bloc was so far leading in nine of Iraq’s 18 provinces.

Maliki’s State of Law Alliance was ahead in the Shiite regions, while Iyad Allawi, an ex-premier who heads the Iraqiya list, was leading in the Sunni areas, said estimates AFP obtained from officials across the country.

Official final results are not due until the end of March and, after that, it is likely to take months before a new government is formed as no political bloc is set to emerge dominant from the vote.

Millions of Iraqis braved terrorist attacks on Sunday to cast their ballots in the second parliamentary election since the US-led forces ousted Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Iraq’s parliamentary elections have witnessed a notable voter turnout, with Iraqis going to polling stations despite the ongoing violence in the country.

Almost 20 million Iraqis cast their ballots before the polling stations closed Sunday afternoon. Meanwhile, violent attacks claimed the lives of 38 people and injured 110 others on the day, AFP reported.

Iraqi Baathists, whose Saddam-linked party candidates were banned by Iraqi authorities as well as al-Qaeda militants, have been linked to the bombing attacks during today’s elections.

More than 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups vied in the event for the 325 seats in the Council of Representatives.

According to the United Nations, partial results will not be announced until Thursday, with full results expected on March 18.

As Iraqi people prepare to cast their ballots in a key parliamentary election, Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani warns against US interference in the voting process.

Speaking on the morrow of a deadly blast which killed at least four Iranians in the central Iraqi city of Najaf, Larijani said Washington’s ongoing military presence in the country is the main reason behind the recent wave of violence, which has reached a new high in the lead-up to Iraq’s general election.

“The US government should be held responsible for [ongoing terror attacks in Iraq,” said Larijani in a parliamentary session on Sunday.

The Iranian Parliament Speaker said the Iraqi nation will show that they do not need the help of Washington statesmen in deciding their country’s affairs.

This is Iraq’s second parliamentary election since the US-led invasion of 2003. The previous election, which was held in 2005, saw Nouri al-Maliki become prime minister.

The vote is taking place against a backdrop of stringent security measures by the Iraqi government to protect voters against election violence.

But this has not stopped insurgent groups from disrupting the election process in Baghdad and other key cities in Iraq.

According to the latest figures, at least 24 Iraqis have been killed and dozens of others wounded by mortar attacks since polling stations opened early Sunday in Baghdad.

Also, sixteen people were killed after two massive blasts flattened two residential buildings, AFP reported.

Iraqi Baathists, whose Saddam-linked party candidates were banned by the Iraqi authorities but backed by the US, as well as the anti-Shia al-Qaeda militants, are believed to be behind the bombing attacks during today’s elections.

At least 24 Iraqis have been killed and dozens of others wounded in Baghdad as rains of mortar and rocket attacks started hitting the country since polling stations opened early Sunday.

Sixteen people were killed when two buildings in the capital were blown up in what appeared to be dynamite, AFP reported.

Four more were killed by mortar attacks in Baghdad and four others by bombs that wounded 40, the officials said.

Roadside bombs also wounded two individuals in the capital and three others near the City of Tikrit.

Fallujah, Baquba, Samarra and other cities across the country were also hit by mortar rounds or bombs, many of them exploding near polling stations.

However, there were no immediate reports of casualties on the latter cases.

Some 200,000 Iraqi police and soldiers are on duty in Baghdad alone, and the country’s borders and its airports have been shut for the day with all vehicles banned from the streets.

On Friday, Iraqi insurgents threatened to kill voters during the elections.

Iraqi Baathists, whose Saddam-linked party candidates were banned by the Iraqi authorities but backed by the US, as well as the anti-Shia al-Qaeda militants, are believed to be behind the bombing attacks during today’s elections.

Almost 20 million voters are eligible to turn out for the elections, only the second vote for a full term of parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Iraqis have started casting their votes in parliamentary elections as several mortar blasts and bombs have struck the capital Baghdad since polling stations opened early Sunday morning.

Twelve people were killed and eight others wounded in a bomb that blow up a residential building in the city, an Interior ministry official said.

An earlier explosion at a Baghdad residential building killed at least four people.

At least 10 mortar blasts and four bombs hit Baghdad after voting centers opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT), security officials said.

Four of the mortars landed in the capital’s Green Zone, killing at least one person and wounding nine others, the official said.

Five other blasts have also struck voting stations in Baquba, 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of the capital.

The attacks came despite a massive security operation across the country to protect voters.

Some 200,000 Iraqi police and soldiers are on duty in Baghdad alone, and the country’s borders and its airports have been shut for the day with all vehicles banned from the streets.

On Friday, Iraqi insurgents threatened to kill voters during the elections.

Iraqi Baathists, whose Saddam-linked party candidates were banned by the Iraqi authorities but backed by the US, as well as the anti-Shia al-Qaeda militants, are believed to be behind the bombing attacks during today’s elections.

Almost 20 million voters are eligible to turn out for the elections, only the second vote for a full term of parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Polls are open across Iraq in a historic election.

About 6,200 candidates are competing for 325 seats in the new parliament.

Almost 20 million voters are eligible to turn out for the election.

Iraq has begun counting ballots of special voting as heavy security measures are being taken for Sunday’s parliamentary polls.

The special voting was conducted by the Independent High Electoral Commission on March 4 for military personnel, including the police and army, in addition to prison inmates and patients in hospitals.

The March 7 polls, to open at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT) and end at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), are considered pivotal for the country, which US troops are scheduled to leave by the end of 2011.

About 6,200 candidates from 86 political groups are vying for 325 parliamentary seats in the first national polls since 2005.

Iraq has reinforced security measures in Baghdad, setting up checkpoints and deploying a large number of security forces near polling centers to prevent any sort of trouble.

The country’s second full national poll since the 2003 invasion will be a test for Iraq’s young democracy.

Iraqis hope the election will bring in a powerful government that will establish security and stability in the country.

However, Al-Qaeda in Iraq has threatened to ruin the election process, warning Iraqis that they risk death if they vote.

Iraq’s senior Muslim leader Muqtada al-Sadr urges the Iraqi electorate to help end the US-led occupation of the country by participating in the parliamentary polls.

Speaking at a Saturday press conference in the Iranian capital, Tehran, al-Sadr drew a parallel between participation in the Sunday vote and resistance against the invaders.

More than 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups are vying for the 325 seats in the Council of Representatives.

The senior Iraqi cleric called on the Iraqis to opt for the candidates who would best serve the nation and work for Iraq’s liberation.

Al-Sadr also warned that any interference by the United States will be unacceptable.

The United States reportedly pushed for qualification of more than 500 candidates who had been barred from the polls for their alleged links to the outlawed Baath party of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Washington has also claimed that it might “delay” pulling its troops out of Iraq, should “disputed” poll results — apparently resulting from the “de-Baathification” process — incite more violence across the strife-torn country.

More than a million Iraqi civilians have so far died as a result of the US-led war in Iraq which began in 2003.

The leader of Iraq’s largest Muslim party, Ammar al-Hakim, says Baghdad does not allow conditioning of improved ties with neighboring Arab states to discounting warm relations with Iran.

“We believe that Iraq must establish close ties with Iran, Turkey, and Arab states,” the clerical figure, who leads the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said in an interview with Iran’s Islamic Republic News Agency.

“Some sensitive issues exist in relations between Iran and Arab states. The same goes for Iran and the US. [However,] Iraq’s national interests make it necessary for us to establish the closest ties with Tehran,” he added.

Hakim pointed out that Iran was the first country to recognize Iraq’s new government after the fall of former dictator Saddam Hossein, adding that this move showed that Tehran had the interests of the Iraqi people at heart.

Since the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, Iran has played a major role in the country’s reconstruction effort.

The construction sector is still the area in which Tehran is most active. Many state companies have invested consistently in the post-conflict reconstruction.

In 2008, Iran offered a loan of one billion dollars for projects in Iraq. Early the next year, Iran was awarded the 1.5 billion dollar contract for the proposed construction of a complex of houses, schools, hotels and shops in Basra.

Several Iranian companies have invested with public participation in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, pilgrimage sites for Muslims worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who visit the sites every year come from Iran.

The governor of Najaf says close to 20 million dollars have been allocated as an annual sum for projects that involve improving the cities’ infrastructure.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast has condemned Saturday’s car bomb explosion that killed at least four Iranians.

Mehmanparast called the blast, which rocked the central Iraqi city of Najaf, “inhumane” and “barbaric.”

The deadly terrorist attack, which came ahead of key parliamentary elections, also left dozens seriously wounded.

According to witnesses, the explosion targeted two tour buses parked at a garage near the holy shrine of Imam Ali (PBUH).

Iraqi politicians have made their final appeal to voters as the war-torn country prepares for Sunday’s parliamentary elections.

Hundreds of thousands of police and security forces are stationed across the country as part of an emergency security plan intended to protect voters on the March 7 Election Day.

More than 6,200 candidates from six major coalitions and several other tribal and minority groups are vying for the 325 seats in the Council of Representatives.

Election organizers predict that up to 800,000 people, who will not be able to reach polling stations on March 7, will participate in the early voting session.