Allawi holds narrow election leads

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi holds a slender lead over incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, with nearly all the votes now counted in the country's parliamentary election.

The new results from Iraq's electoral commission come with about 93 percent of the early vote count complete in Iraq's 18 provinces.

They give a lead of some 8-thousand votes to Allawi over his main rival Maliki. The lead in the popular vote has changed hands several times.

Whatever the final result, it seems clear that Maliki and Allawi will need to engage in long and potentially divisive talks, in order to form a coalition government.

Iraqi employees of the electoral counting and sorting center register more votes in Baghdad. (AFP/Ali al-Saadi)