Iraqi panel orders vote recount in Baghdad

An Iraqi election review panel on Monday ordered a recount of votes cast in Baghdad in the March 7 election, raising the prospect of a change in results that gave a cross-sectarian group backed by Sunnis a slim lead. Any revision could inflame sectarian tensions at a time when Iraq is emerging from the worst of the fighting between minority Sunnis and majority Shi'ites that was unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Electoral commissioner Hamdiya al-Husseini said the manual recount of more than 2.5 million ballots would begin immediately but she was not sure how long it would take. The capital accounts for over a fifth of seats in the 325-seat parliament, making it a key prize, and Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law alliance had sought a recount after coming a close second in the election.