Even as the Independent Election Commission of Iraq is conducting a ballot recount in Baghdad, they are also preparing to deliver final vote tallies to the Supreme Court for ratification. Meanwhile, at least three Iraqis were killed and six more were wounded in unusually light violence. Also, the U.S. embassy has hired attorneys for indigent Iraqis held in prison; however, Iraqi detainees held by U.S. forces should have long ago been handed over to the Iraqis.
Iraq’s election committee will deliver final ballot tallies, except those from Baghdad, to the Supreme Court for final ratification. Baghdad is not included because Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki requested a recount there. He also requested that proposed recounts in other provinces be ignored and their final tallies be ratified. Parliamentary elections were held in March. Because no bloc won an outright majority of seats, the formation of the new government has stalled, requiring cooperation between the blocs.
Maliki’s State of Law party lost by two seats to Iraqiya but has so far not approached Iraqiya to work with them. Instead, State of Law sought help from a smaller Shi’ite coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance, to undermine Iraqiya; however, a prominent Sadrist politician insisted that Iraqiya is an important component of the Iraqi people and needs to be included.
The Kurd parties, which have bounded themselves together into one bloc, will likely support State of Law and the INA. The news comes shortly after the Iraqi government resolved a long-standing issue involving oil revenues.
In Mosul, gunmen killed a retiree. Soldiers killed a gunman who threw a grenade at them. A joint U.S.-Iraqi force arrested four suspects. Two other suspects were detained separately.
In Baghdad, a bomb wounded six people in Mansour.
A decomposed body was found in Tal Afar.
A bomb damaged a power line in Fallujah.
Nine suspects were captured or surrendered in Buhriz.
Thirteen suspects were detained in Basra province.
In Karbala, a man was arrested for impersonating a policeman.
A rocket fell in Kirkuk, but no casualties were reported.
A weapons cache was found in Dujaili.
Five members of the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan (PJAK) were hanged in Iran.
