国际英语新闻：Iraqi PM slightly leads in partial results: electoral commission

BAGHDAD, March 18 (Xinhua) -- The bloc led by incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was slightly leading in the partial results of parliamentary elections, the electoral commission said on Thursday.

Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said that Maliki's State of Law bloc gained a slender lead over former prime minister Ayad Allawi, head of the Iraqia List, in 89 percent of the nationwide votes accounted.

Maliki pulled ahead with 39,905 votes over Allawi in the partial preliminary results of March 7 elections, after his coalition garnered 2,448,452 votes while Allawi's bloc got 2,408,547 votes, the commission said.

The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), led by Shiite religious parties, came third with 1,859,606 votes, it added.

The commission also said that the latest results include 70 percent of the special voting that started three days before March 7 for security, hospital patients and prisoners.

On last Sunday, more than 18 million eligible Iraqi voters, or 62.4 percent turnout, cast their ballots in some 8,920 polling centers across the country to vote for the 325-seat Iraqi Council of Representatives out of some 6,300 candidates.