Initial results: Strong showing for Shi'ite in Iraq's election

Initial results from Iraq's national election are likely to be released by Thursday, as further signs emerged of a strong showing for Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

A decisive victory by any political coalition is unlikely in an election which Iraqis hope will bring a measure of stability after years of sectarian warfare.

A largely Shi'ite group challenging Maliki, the Iraqi National Alliance, says that according to their informal tallies the prime minister was ahead in at least 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces, and that result is 85 percent of the final result.

The alliance estimates are the latest indicator that Maliki's State of Law coalition is well poised to grab a big share of the 325-seat parliament. According to U.N. officials in Iraq, the vote count was proceeding at a good pace.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki holds up an ink-marked finger as he casts his ballot in the Iraqi parliamentary election at a polling station in the Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq Sunday March 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Ali Abbas, Pool)