Iraqi PM pulls ahead of poll rivals

Early poll results in Iraq's national elections show a strong lead for State of Law, the bloc led by Nouri al-Maliki, the country's incumbent prime minister, after about a third of total votes have been counted.

The party is ahead in oil-rich Basra and Karbala, two of Iraq's three biggest provinces, which have Shia Muslim majorities.

Al-Maliki's State of Law is also holding on to leads in Baghdad, whose 70 seats account for more than a fifth of Iraq's 325-member Council of Representatives, as well as Babil, Najaf, Wasit and Muthanna.

The poll results have put Iyad Allawi, the head of Iraqiya, a cross-sectarian bloc, ahead in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk, against the expectations of analysts who had predicted it would probably be won by a Kurdish bloc.

Allawi is also leading in the Sunni-majority region of Anbar, Iraq's largest province geographically.

The results of the March 7 elections have been overshadowed by over 300 complaints of fraud from within Iraq and overseas, which are being investigated by the electoral commission.

Al-Maliki has dismissed the allegations, which have come largely from opposition blocs.

"We should all believe the election was handled in nothing but a respectful manner and we should comply with its results," he said.

But al-Maliki conceded that "there were some cases of fraud, but it has not been enough to upend the election process".

Election officials also downplayed claims of fraud.

Faraj al-Haidari, who heads the national election commission, said the number of complaints in the general election was less than half that of provincial polls in January last year.

AL Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Baghdad.

[March 15, 2010]

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