Shi'ite bloc secures majority in Iraq assembly

BAGHDAD - Iraq's Shi'ite alliance won a slim majority of seats in the new National Assembly, the Electoral Commission said today, securing them power after decades of domination by minority Sunnis.

Based on final results from last month's election, the United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of mainly Shi'ite Islamist religious parties, was allocated 140 seats in the 275-seat National Assembly, the Electoral Commission said.

Seventy-five seats went to a Kurdish bloc that polled the second highest number of votes in the January 30 ballot. Many Sunni Arabs failed to vote through a combination of boycott and fear of Sunni insurgents battling the US-backed administration.

An Alliance leader seen as a potential prime minister said Sunnis must now take part in drafting a constitution, however. Otherwise, some fear, sectarian tension could become civil war.

A two-thirds majority is required to approve the appointment of a president and two vice-presidents, the next step in the electoral process. The Shi'ite alliance and Kurdish bloc are expected to work together to form such a majority.

The three-person presidency will name a prime minister and a cabinet. The Alliance's Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is front-runner to be prime minister, said the nomination had yet to be decided and that talks on the top jobs would take "a couple more days".

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she expected the United States would be able to work well with the new government and praised Jaafari.

"I was fortunate to spend some time with him just a few months ago and I found him very intelligent, very committed to his country," she said, responding to a question about Jaafari at a congressional hearing in Washington.

"He's worked with us before and I think he will continue to work with us," she said.

A group led by the present, interim, prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite, won 40 seats in the election.

The election dramatically shifted power to the majority Shi'ites who watched many Sunnis enjoy considerable privileges under Saddam Hussein. Some fear the transition of power could stoke sectarian tensions and fuel the Sunni-led insurgency.

Leading figures have said the cabinet should include Sunnis and Jaafari stressed that it was crucial they get involved in drawing up a constitution, the new parliament's main task:

"We cannot consider the constitution as complete and perfect unless all Iraqis participate in its drafting," Jaafari said.

US military officers and Iraqi officials do not expect the election, which drew an unexpectedly high turnout of 58 per cent, to defuse the revolt by Saddam loyalists and militant Islamists.

The Alliance polled around 48 per cent of the national vote - some way less than the 60 per cent they had hoped for. The Kurds won almost 26 per cent and Allawi around 14 per cent.

Because dozens of parties failed to muster enough votes to gain any seats, those parties that were elected to parliament have a larger share of seats than their share of the vote.

The results came as Shi'ites mark Ashura, an annual ritual that honours the 7th century death of Mohammad's grandson.

At Ashura last year, 170 people were killed by suicide bombers in Kerbala and Baghdad. This year, authorities are again bracing for suicide bombings against Shi'ites during the event.

Whoever is chosen prime minister faces the daunting task of improving security in a country plagued by suicide bombings and kidnappings - a videotape was released on Wednesday showing an Italian journalist snatched on Feb 4 pleading for her life.

Insurgents also released a video showing a kidnapped Iraqi Swede pleading to the king and queen of Sweden and Pope John Paul to work for his release. It is not clear when he was taken.

US President George W. Bush announced that his ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte, would move to the new position of director of national intelligence. No successor was named.

The heated issue of when the 150,000 US troops stationed in Iraq will leave will also be high on the agenda for Iraq's new leaders in coming months. Some Shi'ite and many Sunnis insist that some sort of framework for withdrawal is drawn up.

Many Iraqis have grown resentful of foreign troops since the invasion of March 2003, a conquest that came with promises of security and of prosperity based on Iraq's vast oil reserves.

However, Jaafari and other leading politicians believe any quick American departure would only fuel violence.

- REUTERS