Early poll results in Iraq's national elections show a strong lead for State of Law, the bloc led by Nouri al-Maliki, the country's incumbent prime minister, after about a third of total votes have been counted.<br /><br />The party is ahead in oil-rich Basra and Karbala, two of Iraq's three biggest provinces, which have Shia Muslim majorities.<br /><br />Al-Maliki's State of Law is also holding on to leads in Baghdad, whose 70 seats account for more than a fifth of Iraq's 325-member Council of Representatives, as well as Babil, Najaf, Wasit and Muthanna.<br /><br />The poll results have put Iyad Allawi, the head of Iraqiya, a cross-sectarian bloc, ahead in the disputed oil-rich province of Kirkuk, against the expectations of analysts who had predicted it would probably be won by a Kurdish bloc.<br /><br />Allawi is also leading in the Sunni-majority region of Anbar, Iraq's largest province geographically.<br /><br />The results of the March 7 elections have been overshadowed by over 300 complaints of fraud from within Iraq and overseas, which are being investigated by the electoral commission.<br /><br />Al-Maliki has dismissed the allegations, which have come largely from opposition blocs.<br /><br />"We should all believe the election was handled in nothing but a respectful manner and we should comply with its results," he said.<br /><br />But al-Maliki conceded that "there were some cases of fraud, but it has not been enough to upend the election process".<br /><br />Election officials also downplayed claims of fraud.<br /><br />Faraj al-Haidari, who heads the national election commission, said the number of complaints in the general election was less than half that of provincial polls in January last year.<br /><br />AL Jazeera's Anita McNaught reports from Baghdad.<br /><br />[March 15, 2010]
