Former Premier Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc won the most seats in Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election, two more than incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bloc, official results showed yesterday.

Iraqiya won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, compared to the 89 won by the State of Law Alliance led by Mr Maliki, a fellow Shiite, election officials said. Mr Allawi pledges to "work with all sides" to form a new Iraq government.

The United States yesterday praised Iraq's legislative elections as "a significant milestone", shortly after results showed former Premier Iyad Allawi's bloc winning the most seats.

20 killed in twin blasts

Twenty people were killed and 55 wounded yesterday in twin blasts in the town of Khales, in Diyala province north of the Iraqi capital, a security official said. Among the wounded were women and children, said the official from Baquba Operations Command, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Some of the wounded were transported to a hospital in the provincial capital of Baquba, the official added.

The blasts struck at around 6.15 p.m. (1515 GMT) in front of a café and a restaurant in central Khales, around 65 kilometres northeast of Baghdad and near Diyala's provincial capital of Baquba.

The explosions came shortly before Iraq's national election commission was due to announce full results from the country's hotly-contested March 7 parliamentary election.