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Final Iraqi Vote Count Expected

   VOA News 26 March 2010

   Iraq's elections chief says final parliamentary vote results announced
   Friday will likely show a virtual tie between the Prime Minister Nouri
   al-Maliki's coalition and that of his main rival.
   Independent  High  Electoral  Commission  chief  Faraj al-Haidari told
   reporters  on  Thursday  that  Mr. Maliki's State of Law Coalition and
   former  Prime  Minister Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition will likely be
   separated by only one or two seats in parliament.
   The  close  race  will  likely mean weeks or months of negotiations to
   form a new government.
   Prime Minister Maliki's Shi'ite coalition narrowly trails Mr. Allawi's
   secular  alliance  with  95  percent  of ballots from the March 7 vote
   tallied.
   On  Thursday, Iraqi Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani demanded a delay
   in the release of the election results, until the president, electoral
   commission  and  political  parties  can  reach an agreement on how to
   investigate alleged voting irregularities.
   Iraq's electoral commission has rejected the prime minister's call for
   a manual recount, but says it will look into complaints of fraud.
   Mr.  Allawi's strong support among minority Sunni Muslims has prompted
   concerns  that  any attempt by majority Shi'ite coalitions to sideline
   him might lead to sectarian violence.
   On  Thursday, a bomb killed a leader of a Sunni pro-government militia
   in  southwestern  Baghdad.  Elsewhere in the capital, gunmen raided a
   house, killing a woman and her daughter.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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