Iraq's president on Sunday called for a recount in this month's parliamentary elections, which have turned into a tight race between the prime minister and a secular rival amid accusations of fraud. A new count could further extend political wrangling in the contentious race. The demand from President Jalal Talabani came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki appeared to back the idea by calling on the election commission overseeing the counting to quickly respond to requests from political blocs for a recount. Calling for a recount, Maliki had also warned that the country could return to violence if the demand were not met. The call had come after new results from the electoral commission on Saturday showed secularist challenger Iyad Allawi edging ahead of Maliki's bloc by about 8,000 votes with about 93 percent of the counting complete. However, Maliki's coalition regained the lead on Sunday after electoral officials released a new preliminary count of 95 percent of the vote. Maliki's mainly Shiite State of Law bloc led by about 188,000 votes nationwide over secularist challenger Iyad Allawi and his Iraqiya coalition, according to the latest count from the electoral commission. Election officials said they would announce a preliminary 100 percent count on Friday. It remained unclear what the demands from Talabani and Maliki would produce. The electoral commission – an independent body appointed by the parliament – swiftly dismissed the calls and urged political parties to be patient and lodge their complaints through the appropriate channels.
