|
Kurdish coalition takes second in Iraq poll
 The coalition of Iraq's two main Kurdish parties has won about 24 per cent of the vote in Iraq's 30 January general elections, putting the group in second place behind the top Shi'ite coalition, according to partial vote count results. The results put the Kurdish Alliance - comprising the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party - ahead of another Shi'ite bloc, led by interim Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi, which is now in third place with around 13 per cent of the vote. The United Iraqi Alliance, sponsored by top Shi'ite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has so far won more than half of the votes for Iraq's 275-seat National Assembly. Shi'ites make up about 60 per cent of Iraq's 26 million people, while Kurds make up one-third and Sunnis about 20 per cent. The final vote count is expected on Thursday. At least a two-thirds majority is needed to make key appointments and to approve the constitution. In the meantime, more than 40 people have been killed in two days of violence in Iraq. On Monday, 27 people were killed in suicide bombings targeting Iraqi security forces in Baquba and Mosul, news agencies reported. On Tuesday, at least 13 people were killed and at least 11 others were wounded in an explosion at an Iraqi army-recruiting center in Baghdad, according to agency reports. Also in the capital city, gunmen killed two sons of Iraqi Shi'ite politician Mihal al-Alusi, an outspoken critic of Syria and Iran. Posted by: Steve 2005-02-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=55919 |