Bomb kills 15 as Iraq waits for election results

A suicide bomber killed 15 people in northeastern Iraq on Thursday, shortly before election authorities were due to give the first official results of last week's provincial ballot.

The results are expected to show gains for the law-and-order bloc of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, giving him a boost ahead of a parliamentary election late in the year and radically changing the political map of Iraq as violence begins to ease.

The suicide bombing was the bloodiest attack in Iraq in weeks, a reminder of the fragility of recent security gains that had fueled hope for an end to the years of sectarian slaughter that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Maliki's followers touted the dramatic fall in violence under his watch, and early indications were that voters rewarded him and his allies.

Intense political maneuvering is likely to ensue after the results are known, as poll rivals seek to bolster their gains and to stem losses through alliances, which will determine who dominates provincial councils and picks governors.

"There is no red line. We deal with any winning party that we believe will benefit the Sadrist movement and the province," said Ahmed al-Massoudi a spokesman for the parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), which once dominated most local councils in Iraq's oil-rich and mostly Shi'ite south, echoed the Sadrists in saying there was "no red line," or prohibitions, when it came to post election partners.

The independent election commission was due to hold a news conference in the late afternoon.

MALIKI STRONGER

The election in 14 of Iraq's 18 local councils was the most peaceful in the country since the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003, but tensions remain and insurgents such as al Qaeda continue to stage devastating attacks.

Police said Thursday's suicide attack occurred at a popular restaurant in the town in Khanaqin on the border with the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region in Iraq's north, which has seen a stand off in the past between government and Kurdish forces.

Kurdish leaders have eyed Maliki's growing strength with wariness, and fear his drive for a strong central state may hinder their plans for greater autonomy in Iraq's north.

Although official tallies have been under wraps, rivals of the prime minister have acknowledged his State of Law coalition did surprisingly well in the provincial ballot, probably coming first in Iraq's two biggest cities, Baghdad and Basra.

That would give Maliki -- once seen as a weak leader installed by more powerful Shi'ite parties -- his own power base in the provinces and strengthen his hand ahead of the national election.

The prime minister is head of a Shi'ite Islamist party, but campaigned on a law-and-order platform as a nationalist eschewing religious rhetoric, a message which seems to have appealed to voters in a country emerging from sectarian war.