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Secularist gains on PM as Iraq opens more ballot boxes Publish Date: Tuesday,16 March, 2010, at 10:10 PM Doha Time Reuters/Baghdad Dressed in the colours of their national flag, Kurdish girls stand behind graves of victims of the 1988 gas attacks, during a ceremony yesterday marking the anniversary of the attacks in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja. Iraqi Kurds yesterday mourned the deaths of around 5,000 villagers from Halabja who were massacred 22 years ago in chemical attacks blamed on Saddam Hussain's forces during the Iran-Iraq war Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's lead over a secularist rival narrowed yesterday as new results brought into focus a fragmented vote that may mean months of political bargaining and a risky power vacuum. Officials released more results from the March 7 poll just as twin bomb attacks killed eight people, underscoring Iraq's vulnerability as it confronts the possibility of major political change and US troops prepare to withdraw. In the town of Mussayab, 60km south of the capital, the two blasts went off within minutes of one another after attackers attached two bombs onto passengers cars. The blasts, a day after seven people were killed by a car bomb in western Anbar province, raise doubts about how Iraq's fragile security will stand up during what will likely be long, divisive talks among leading politicians to form a government. Maliki's mainly Shia State of Law bloc is ahead in seven of 18 provinces, but it barely made a dent in Sunni areas, underlining Iraq's polarisation after years of sectarian war. Close behind is former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's Iraqiya list, a cross-sectarian, secularist alliance that swept five largely Sunni provinces, where resentment runs high against a Shia-led government many Sunnis feel has shut them out. With two-thirds of an estimated 12mn votes counted, just some 20,000 votes separate Maliki and Allawi's coalition. Definitive results could take weeks. One of the two blocs is likely to ally with the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a largely Shia bloc made up of Maliki's estranged allies, running third, or with a partnership of Kurdish parties which dominated Iraq's Kurdish north. Both supporters of Maliki, who has built his reputation on pulling Iraq back from the brink of civil war, and Allawi, an urbane physician and critic of the mainly Shia religious parties dominating Iraq since 2003, are feeling confident. "Since State of Law has a lead over the other lists, it will be dangling the carrot everyone will be running after," Jaber Habeeb Jaber, a Maliki candidate, said late on Monday. Thaer al-Naqeeb, a close aide to Allawi, said a government without Iraqiya representation would be "difficult". "Our expectations are that we will be the ones to form the government. In the north we are No 1 and we are in a good position in Baghdad ... If the Iraqi people demand change and are waiting for a change, then there should be change." One of the main drivers for the bloody insurgency since 2003 has been political marginalisation of a long-dominant Sunni minority. If Allawi, a secular Shia who has galvanized Sunnis' desire to reclaim influence, is shut out of power, it could spell trouble just as Washington halves its troop force and looks toward an end-2011 deadline for withdrawing. There is endless speculation about who might ally with whom to form the next government, and it's also possible some electoral alliances will splinter. Kurds are sure to demand concessions on their priorities - ambitions to expand their footprint in land and oil - in exchange for their support. Despite his strong showing, many potential allies oppose a second term for Maliki. He may have an uphill battle ahead. Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at the University of London, said influence from Iraq's fellow Shia-majority neighbour Iran could be instrumental in producing another government alliance between Maliki, the INA, and the Kurds. "To some extent this would be a reconstitution of the collation that governed Iraq so ineptly from 2006 to 2010." Few things seemed to incense Iraqis more before the elections than talk of foreign interference - Iranian, American, Syrian or Saudi. Analysts say leading Sunni Arab states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia would be more comfortable with a government led by Allawi. The Iranian government, eager to see someone representing Shia interests leading Iraq, praised the elections. "All international supervision has confirmed the soundness of the Iraqi elections. This is a success and we congratulate Iraqis," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]