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US-backed Sunni group takes Anbar vote
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US-backed Sunni group takes Anbar vote
By BRIAN MURPHY,Associated Press Writer AP - Friday, February 20
BAGHDAD - Sunni tribal leaders who led an uprising against insurgents expanded their political clout and the Shiite-led government reaped rewards for security crackdowns in Iraq's biggest cities, according to full results issued Thursday from last month's provincial elections.
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The elections _ held Jan. 31 without major violence but later tainted by allegations of fraud _ were seen as a chance to extend the Sunni political voice and test the strength of main Shiite parties before national races later this year.
The provincial councils have no direct sway over national affairs, but carry wide powers over regional matters such as business deals and local security.
Preliminary results were issued earlier this month and indicated strong showings for political allies of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad and the southern city of Basra, where Iraqi forces broke the control of Shiite militias last year.
But there were worries the final results could bring a violent backlash in the western desert of Anbar, where Sunni tribes that formed groups known as Awakening Councils claimed that Sunni rivals planned to hijack their expected victory.
In the end, however, Awakening leaders applauded the outcome after being awarded eight of 29 provincial seats in Anbar _ giving them a strong hand to form a governing coalition with smaller Sunni groups across the province that extends from near Baghdad to the borders of Syria and Jordan.
Anbar became one of the turning points of the war when the Awakening movement joined U.S.-led forces in late 2006 to uproot al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgent groups from key strongholds.
Dhari al-Arsan, a senior Awakening leader, called the results a "great achievement" and said voters wanted to "express gratitude to the sacrifices we made to impose security and peace in our province."
Shiite candidates backed by al-Maliki's government also rode public support for crackdowns last year against militia-held areas in Baghdad and Basra, the nation's second-largest city.
In Baghdad, allies of al-Maliki took nearly half of the council seats _ 28 of 57 _ and swept 20 of 35 posts in Basra. They also posted strong showings elsewhere across the southern Shiite heartland.
It was a clear blow to Iraq's largest Shiite political group, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, which has close ties to Iran and is expected to battle al-Maliki's U.S.-allied bloc in national elections. The Supreme Council finished no higher than second in each of the southern provinces.
Another Shiite faction, led by loyalists of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, took some seats in every province in the south. Al-Sadr's influence has weakened after government forces moved into areas once controlled by his Mahdi Army militia, but he still retains a core of followers.
In Karbala province, which includes some of the most important Shiite shrines, a populist candidate, Youssef al-Haboubi, won the largest share of the vote but was given just one seat on the council _ because he ran alone without any political allies on his ticket. Al-Haboubi has dropped out of the public eye recently because of fears of attacks from political opponents.
In the northern province that includes Mosul _ considered the last urban base for al-Qaida in Iraq _ 19 of 37 seats went to a hard-line Sunni Arab party that has strongly opposed efforts by Kurds to expand their influence in the area.
Earlier this month, the chairman of Iraq's election commission, Faraj al-Haidari, said ballots in more than 30 polling stations nationwide were nullified because of fraud but that was not enough to declare the election a failure.
___
Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
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