Iraq PM takes slender lead over rivals

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki took a slender lead over his rivals yesterday, preliminary results from the country's general election showed, as opposition blocs alleged blatant fraud.

Mr Maliki faces a strong challenge from former premier Iyad Allawi, whose secular Iraqiya bloc has emerged as the strongest challenger to the incumbent's hopes of retaining his post.

Early results released yesterday from the mainly Shiite southern provinces of Maysan and Muth-anna, which border Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively, put Mr Maliki in pole position.

In Muthanna, Mr Maliki's State of Law Alliance was ahead, followed by the Iraqi National Alliance, a bloc led by religious Shiite groups. Iraqiya was fourth. And in Maysan, the INA was ahead, followed by State of Law and Iraqiya.

At the data entry centre in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, tally sheets were being keyed into computers by teams of hundreds of young men and women separated from the media by a glass partition.

Election officials occasionally wandered into the press area to answer questions from ever more restive journalists keen to hear when the latest results would be released.

Initial figures from four of Iraq's 18 provinces released on Thursday showed a split between the two rival contenders for the top job.

Preliminary figures for Najaf, Babil, Diyala and Salaheddin put State of Law ahead in the first two, while Iraqiya was in front in the latter pair.

Both blocs claimed to have made a strong showing nationwide, based on their own internal estimates, with Iraqiya claiming to have won 90 seats in the 325-member Parliament, while State of Law said it had taken around 100.

In Arbil province in the auto-nomous region of Kurdistan, the Kurdistania alliance, made up of the region's two long-dominant parties, was in the lead.

The results released so far represent less than a third of votes cast.

Complete results are expected on March 18 and the final ones - after any appeals are dealt with - will come at the end of the month.