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Al-Abadi Calls on Iraq to Respect Election Results

by VOA News

   As votes were being counted in Iraq's first election since defeating
   Islamic State, current prime minister Haider al-Abadi urged his
   supporters to respect the results of Monday's poll.

   "I call on Iraqis to respect the results of the elections," he said in
   a national address Monday, vowing to keep the country safe under his
   command until a new government is formed.

   Partial election returns from Iraq's first national poll since
   defeating Islamic State show Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr as the
   frontrunner.

   Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the
   streets of Baghdad Sunday night, celebrating the announcement of the
   partial results of Iraq's parliamentary elections.

   Al-Sadr himself did not run in the election, but he holds sway over a
   coalition ticket that won by a large margin in the capital, Baghdad.

   A victory by al-Sadr's coalition would be a significant blow to the
   re-election campaign of al-Abadi.

   If the results hold, al-Sadr, a strident critic of the United States,
   could have significant influence on who will become Iraq's next leader.