At least 11 Iraqis were killed and 19 more were wounded in the latest attacks. Although final election results were released yesterday, political wrangling continued today.
Former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi reached out to his rivals in an attempt to quickly form a new government. Because no party reached a 163-seat majority, they will have to wrangle out the new structure via compromise. If Allawi is unable to do this, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will have a chance to return as prime minister despite placing second in national elections. Both parties will have to deal with increasing political power for Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s group as well. The Kurdish coalition will also have a say in forming the new government.
Maliki claims to be building the largest parliamentary bloc while his party, State of Law, is challenging the results of the close election. Other political tricks are being tried as well, including having the courts give Maliki the right to form the government anyway and ruling that many in Allawi’s party are secret Ba’athists.
In Mosul, four Iraqis were wounded when their booby-trapped generator exploded. Two people were killed by celebratory gunfire that followed the election results release. Gunmen shot and killed a civilian. Six policemen were wounded in a roadside bomb blast.
In Baghdad, Adhamiya’s Sahwa leader was killed in a shower of bullets. A blast in Batawiyeen left five wounded. Heavy gunfire was heard overnight throughout Baghdad. Two people were wounded when a bomb exploded near a theater in Allawi.
Gunmen shot at a home in Wehda, killing three people and wounding a fourth.
One soldier was killed and another was wounded in Kirkuk, when gunmen fired on them near a disabled services building.
An off-duty soldier was killed in a shooting in Tikrit.
Two dumped bodies were found in Khanaqin.
Ten suspects were captured in Khalis. Al-Qaeda was blamed for yesterday’s bombing.
