[patience]

http://waxmanmedia.com/cgi-local/news2.cgi...036075827Lionel Waxman



OUTCOME OF THE IRAQ ELECTION

February 7, 2005

Here we are in Flashpoint Election Central, still tracking that election in Iraq a week or so ago. As you can imagine, the returns are coming in very slowly. But at this point, it is not looking good for the American-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

Leading the pack so far with partial returns from 10 of Iraq's 18 provinces is the United Iraqi Alliance, which has the endorsement of top Shiite clerics. They have more than two-thirds of the votes counted so far. Allawi's ticket was running a distant second to the Alliance.

This just in: with most of those votes now counted, the Iraqis abroad gave the Alliance a solid lead with 36%, the Kurdish Coalition 29%, and only 9% for Allawi.

Returns from the Sunni provinces have been slow in arriving and some irregularities have been alleged in those areas.

The head of the leading Alliance, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim is perceived as being very much anti-Saddam. And though many Shiite clerics are on the Alliance ticket, including the widely revered Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, they have pledged not to impose Islamic law in Iraq.

So there you have it. We've still a long way to go, but at this point, based on early returns and computer projections, Flashpoint is projecting the election for the Alliance.