国际英语新闻：Secular leader wins most seats in Iraqi elections

BAGHDAD, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi secular former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's bloc won most seats in Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election with two more than outgoing Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bloc, official results showed Friday.

According to full results announced by the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Allawi's Iraqia bloc garnered 91 seats in the 325-seat Council of Representatives, while the State of Law coalition of his fierce rival Maliki followed with 89 seats.

The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, came third with 70 seats and the Kurdish Alliance gained 43 seats.

The tight race between Allawi, who gained strong support from Sunni provinces and Maliki, a Shiite, raised the prospect of long and potentially divisive talks on forming a new government.

This file photo shows that former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks during a press conference in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, July 15, 2004. Iraqi Independent Electoral Commission (IHEC) said Friday that the bloc of secular leader Ayad Allawi won 91 seats while Maliki garnered 89 seats of the parliament's 325 seats

Allawi's victory in the elections will give him a chance to form a new government, but that would not be easy and will need tough bargaining among the political blocs to collect the required coalition of at least 163 seats.

Maliki, for his part, did not accept the results saying they were not final and investigations about alleged fraud are going on.

"We believe that the results are not final and the commission ( IHEC) has to go on in revising the complaints which submitted by many blocs," Maliki said in a press conference after the results announcement in the al-Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad's Green Zone late on Friday.

However, Ed Milkert, UN special envoy to Iraq, hailed the polls as "credible" and called on Iraqi parties to accept the results.

"The elections have been credible and we did not find any evidence on major gap in elections," Milkert said in his speech during the press conference.

"The UN calls upon all the political parties to accept the result," he added.

After the announcement of Allawi's victory, hundreds of his supporters gathered in Baghdad and several Iraqi cities to celebrate his winning, singing and dancing while heavy gun shots echoed in the sky.