Iraq PM Maliki vows to challenge vote

Mr Maliki's claims of widespread fraud have been dismissed by officials

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has vowed to fight the results of parliamentary elections that saw former PM Iyad Allawi win a narrow victory.

Speaking angrily on national television, he said he would challenge the count through what he described as a legal process.

Mr Allawi won by only two seats, paving the way for weeks of political wrangling to form a new government.

Earlier, UN envoy to Iraq Ad Melkert said the election had been credible.

He called on all parties to accept the outcome.

A credible election is seen as crucial in helping to stabilise Iraq before the planned US withdrawal due to be completed by next year.

ANALYSIS Andrew North, BBC News, Baghdad This narrow victory for Iyad Allawi may signal Iraq is beginning to move beyond its sectarian divisions. He is Shia but campaigned on a secular platform. Most of his votes came from Sunni areas, but he attracted significant support from other groups. What matters most now is Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's challenge to the results and whether it sparks new tension, amid the swirl of suspicions and fraud allegations. He has said he will use legal means to appeal. He will be under intense pressure from the Americans to do so. Their withdrawal plans depend on the results being accepted as credible. Power has rarely changed hands peacefully in Iraq - an orderly transition would be just as significant as Iyad Allawi winning.

Some Western observers fear a weak and unstable Iraq would be little more than a puppet of neighbouring Iran.

Mr Maliki said he would not accept the election results, which gave his State of Law bloc 89 seats to the 91 of Mr Allawi's Iraqiyya alliance in the 325-seat parliament.

He repeated his call for a recount.

By law, Mr Maliki has until Monday to register his complaints with the Iraqi election commission.

"When we checked some of the [election] papers we found a large percentage were forged," he said.

"Another thing, witnesses from IHEC [electoral commission] talked about manipulation in the election and underlined this with names and other cases, which made it clear that there was a defect, which should be dealt with through manual counting, as is done in some countries."

Election officials have refused calls for a recount, and international observers have described the election as fair and credible.

"From our vantage point and from the international community's vantage point, we have not seen any evidence of substantial fraud that would fundamentally change the outcome," said US State Department spokesman PJ Crowley.

"This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing democratic development of Iraq."

Mr Allawi, who is a Shia Muslim, fought on a secular platform, and many who voted for him were Sunnis.

He said his bloc would "work with all Iraqi parties, whether they won or not, to form the next government".

There had been fears that the results would spark violence.

Just hours before the results were announced, twin bomb blasts in the town of Khalis, in Diyala province, killed at least 40 people and left more than 60 injured.

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