Iraq vote recount shows no 'fraud' — electoral commission

BAGHDAD — Iraq's electoral commission said Monday that a manual vote recount in some polling stations where complaints were filed by pro-Iran groups did not show any "fraud".

The announcement comes amid tensions in Iraq, whose prime minister escaped unhurt from a drone attack at the weekend and where protesters have camped on the streets to contest election results.

The Conquest (Fateh) Alliance, political arm of the powerful Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary force, won around 15 of 329 seats contested in the October 10 legislative election, preliminary results show.

In the last parliament it held 48, making it the second-largest bloc.

The big winner this time, with more than 70 seats according to the initial count, was the movement of Moqtada Sadr, a Shiite Muslim preacher who campaigned as a nationalist and critic of Iran.

But Hashed leaders have rejected the results as a "scam" and their supporters have held protests chanting "No to fraud" and accusing the prime minister of "complicity".

Amid the mounting tension, Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhemi escaped unhurt early Sunday from an unclaimed "assassination" bid in which an explosive-packed drone hit his Baghdad home.

The electoral commission said in a statement that a manual vote recount at 4,324 polling stations indicated no irregularities.

"We have verified all the votes in the contested stations and the [preliminary] results are the same as those already announced," it said.

Final results will be announced after they are validated by a legal committee, it added without giving a date.