Shiite Alliance Wins Iraq Election
Officials: United Iraqi Alliance Takes 128 Seats; Sunnis Make Gains
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Play CBS Video Video Bush On Saddam's Victims CBS News RAW: President Bush met with several victims who say they were tortured or abused during Saddam Hussein's reign. Bush also spoke about progress made since the Iraqi dictator's fall.
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Local Iraqis watch election official Safwat Rasheed read the Dec. 15 parliamentary election results on television in a pool hall, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, in Baqouba, Iraq. (AP)
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A young man stops behind police lines that read, "danger bomb material," to view the wreckage of a bomb attack on a passing Iraqi police patrol, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
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An Iraqi police vehicle is seen sprayed with shrapnel after an attack by a roadside bomb, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
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Iraqi police investigate at the scene of a roadside attack on an Iraqi police patrol, Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
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Smoke rises after an explosion near the Al-Tahreer Square, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2006, in downtown Baghdad, Iraq. (AP)
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Interactive Battle For Iraq The government, the insurgency, key players, background and photos.
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Interactive Attacks Map Details on the insurgency and terrorism that has continued to take lives since the fall of Saddam.
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Interactive To The Polls Iraqis vote for their first permanent, democratically-elected government. Find out what's at stake.
Politicians have four days to contest the results, which were largely in line with early, preliminary returns following the balloting. Officials will have another 10 days to study any complaints before they certify the results and parliament can convene to appoint a new government.
U.S. officials hope that a greater Sunni voice in the new parliament and government will help defuse the insurgency so that American and other international troops can begin to go home.
The results were announced a day after an international review group reported that the Dec. 15 election was flawed but generally fair considering the country's security crisis. Sunni politicians had demanded the review after raising allegations of fraud. Al-Mutlaq had called for a new election.
Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi troops launched a major military operation in southern Baghdad's Dora neighborhood at dawn Friday in a hunt for two local insurgent leaders believed to control several hundred militants, including non-Iraqi Arabs, said Iraqi Army Gen. Mehdi al-Gharawi.
A series of loud explosions and repeated bursts of machine gun fire were heard early Friday in the area as the troops hunted suspected militant chiefs Sheik Fathi al-Jibouri and relative Abu Aisha al-Jibouri, al-Gharawi told The Associated Press.
A U.S. military spokesman, Sgt. Keith Robinson, confirmed that several military operations were underway as part of one overall offensive in southern Baghdad but refused to say more.
As part of heightened security, Iraq announced a lock-down of all roads leading in and out of Baghdad and the major provinces of Anbar, Diyala, Najaf and Mosul, deploying thousands of extra soldiers and police to man extra checkpoints and conduct patrols.
The closures are expected to continue Saturday. Only Iraqis returning from performing a Muslim pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia will be able to enter the provinces, said army Capt. Jassim al-Wahish.
"We have closed the entries and exits of these provinces as a security measure to avoid any chaos or sabotage acts during the release of the elections results," said Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi of the Interior Ministry.
Despite the clampdown, violence continued.
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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