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

Also in the day, violence continued in Iraq when twin bombings ripped through a crowded street in the town of Khalis in Diyala province, killing 53 people and wounding 105 others.

According to the provincial police, the blasts took place at sunset when a roadside bomb and a minibus loaded with explosives detonated in a quick succession in the town of Khalis, near the provincial capital city of Baquba, some 65 km northeast of Baghdad.

The massive blasts struck several popular restaurants and nearby shops, totally destroying 15 shops and restaurants and leaving several vehicles ablaze, along with damaging many others.

This file photo shows that former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi speaks during a press conference in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, Jan. 5, 2005. 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

Diyala province, which stretches from the eastern edges of Baghdad to the Iranian border east of the country, has long been a stronghold for al-Qaida militants and other insurgent groups since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 despite repeated U.S. and Iraqi military operations against them.

The deadly attack came about an hour before the Iraqi electoral commission announced the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections which is widely expected to shape the future of the war- torn country.