Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki wins

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki retained his narrow lead over secularist challenger Iyad Allawi on Thursday as Iraq neared a final preliminary count of votes cast in a 7th March parliamentary election.Race between the Shi'ite prime minister and Allawi, who was dominating largely Sunni provinces, was expected to lead to weeks or months of tense negotiations to form a new government as Iraq emerges from years of sectarian conflict.The strong showing by Allawi among Sunnis marginalised by the rise of Iraq's Shi'ite majority after the 2003 US invasion promised to be a key factor in the coming talks and in Iraq's security as US forces prepared to pull out by the end of 2011.With nearly 90 per cent of the vote tallied, Maliki's State of Law coalition was about 40,000 votes ahead of Iraqiya, the cross-sectarian bloc headed by Allawi, who served as prime minister in 2004 and 2005.

Maliki's group was ahead in seven provinces compared to five for Iraqiya, and three each for the next two challengers, the Shi'ite Iraqi National Alliance (INA) and the bloc representing the two most powerful parties from Iraq's Kurdish north.