Iraqi prime minister al-Maliki rebukes UN for not backing his vote recount demand
By APMonday, March 29, 2010
Iraq PM slams UN for not backing his recount quest
BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister has rebuked the United Nations for not backing his demand that the ballots in the March 7 parliamentary elections be recounted.
Nouri al-Maliki insisted on the recount in comments to the private Al-Sumariya TV and indicated his side still may form the next government as part of a larger alliance in the making.
He criticized the role of the U.N. mission in Iraq, which has said the voting was transparent and fair, with no widespread fraud.
Al-Maliki says the U.N. should have pushed the electoral commission to abide by his demand. The interview was published Monday on the TV’s Web site.
Al-Maliki’s secular Shiite challenger Ayad Allawi’s bloc got 91 seats in the 325-member parliament — two more than the prime minister’s group.
