Thousands of Iraqis march to protest against election results

Iraqi political leaders will meet the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, in his Kurdish homeland over the next few days to prepare the ground for the formation of a new government, a senior government official said on Dec. 27. The announcement, part of efforts to ease sectarian, ethnic and political friction following this month's election, came as between 5,000 and 10,000 supporters of former prime minister Iyad Allawi's secular party and two prominent Sunni Arab parties marched through Baghdad to protest against the results. Final results are not out yet but preliminary figures give a big lead to the religious Shia Alliance. Sunni and secular parties are insisting the vote should be rerun–at least in some key provinces where they say results were fixed to favor the powerful United Iraqi Alliance, a grouping of religious Shia Muslim parties that forms the backbone of the interim government. Preliminary figures–including some returns released on Dec. 26 from ballots cast early by Iraqis abroad and some voters inside Iraq–have given a big lead to the religious Shia Alliance. The 5,000-10,000 marchers, some carrying photos of Allawi, demonstrated in Baghdad in favor of a national unity government that would give more power to Sunni Arabs and secular Shia Muslims at the expense of dominant Shia Muslim religious parties. "We're protesting to reject the elections fraud. We want to ask the government and the elections commission: 'Where did our votes go? Who stole them?'" Abdul Hamid Abdul Razzaq, a 45-year-old barber, told the Associated Press. Iraq's Electoral Commission said on Dec. 26 that final results for the 275-seat parliament could be released in about a week. Sunni Arab and secular Shia Muslim parties are demanding that an international body review more than 1,500 complaints, warning they may boycott the new legislature. They also want new elections in some provinces, including Baghdad. Among the complaints are 35 that the election commission considers serious enough to change some local results but not the elections overall.