Shi'ite bloc wins historic Iraq election

United Iraq Alliance swept to a resounding victory with 47% of votes.

A Shi'ite alliance won Iraq's first election since Saddam Hussein's overthrow, sealing the new political dominance of the country's long-oppressed majority.

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The Electoral Commission said on Sunday the Shi'ite bloc, known as the United Iraqi Alliance, took 47 per cent of the votes, less than the bloc had predicted.

A Kurdish alliance came second with 25 per cent, while a grouping led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi came third with 13 per cent.

Few Sunni Arabs took part in the voting, which effectively marginalises the minority that has traditionally ruled modern Iraq and held a privileged position under Saddam, a Sunni.

The commission said 8.55 million Iraqis, or 58 per cent of registered voters, cast ballots in the election, Iraq's first multi-party poll for half a century that took place on January 30.

Sunni Arab turnout was low. Only two per cent of eligible voters in the Sunni-dominated Anbar province cast ballots, and only 29 per cent in the mainly Sunni Salahadin province.

Sunnis, who constitute about 20 per cent of Iraq's 27 million people, will be underrepresented in the National Assembly that will now be formed. They will have little political influence.

That could stoke the insurgency in Iraq, which is being fought mainly by Sunni Arab guerrillas who want to drive out the US-led troops and overthrow the America-backed Government.

REPEATED ATTACKS

Insurgents have mounted repeated attacks against US troops, Iraqi security forces and Government officials, and also against Shi'ites -- raising fears the country could slide towards sectarian civil war.

Iraq has announced it will close its land borders from Thursday to try to prevent a flood of foreign pilgrims arriving for Ashura, one of the holiest events in the Shi'ite calendar, when millions of people converge on shrines in Iraq.