Shiites Get Half the Votes

Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims won nearly half the votes in the nation's Jan. 30 election, giving the group significant power but not enough to form a government on its own, according to results released Sunday. The Shiites likely will have to form a coalition in the 275-member National Assembly with the other top vote-getters -- the Kurds and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list -- to push through their agenda and select a president and prime minister. The president and two vice presidents must be elected by a two-thirds majority. Minority Sunni groups, which largely boycotted voting booths and form the core of the insurgency, rejected the election -- raising the prospect of continued violence. Some questioned the figures, saying no international or U.N. monitors observed the election.
-- Associated Press