(New York Times) John F. Burns and James Glanz - A broad Shiite alliance led by two Iran-backed religious parties won a slim majority of seats in the Iraqi national assembly, final election results showed Sunday. With a turnout of 58%, the Shiite alliance won 48% of the popular vote, giving it 140 seats in the 275-member assembly, 2 more than required for a majority. About 75 seats appeared headed for an alliance of Iraq's two main Kurdish parties. A party led by Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who has been interim prime minister, seemed likely to take 40 seats. Five seats appeared likely to go to Sheik Ghazi al-Yawar, the Sunni interim president. The remaining 15 seats will be scattered among eight other parties, including three seats to a group loyal to Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, and another three seats to a Turkmen party.
2005-02-14 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive