* Sunni bloc declared victor in Iraq election
BAGHDAD – A Sunni-backed secular alliance that challenged Iraq’s top Shiite leadership in parliamentary elections won a Supreme Court ruling Tuesday sealing its narrow edge over its closest rival.
The court order, which cannot be appealed, begins a 15-day countdown for seating the legislature nearly three months after its members were elected in the March 7 vote.
It still could take weeks for the parliament to select a prime minister and government ministers, raising fears that extremist groups may incite major violence by exploiting security gaps in the wake of Iraqi political deadlock and U.S. troop withdrawal.
After a barrage of ballot recounts, charges of fraud and other legal challenges, a Supreme Court review concluded that initial election results awarding 91 seats to the secular Iraqiya alliance were “reliable,” Chief Judge Midhat al-Mahmoud told a news conference Tuesday.
Iraqiya is led by Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister and secular Shiite, and is heavily backed by Iraq’s once-dominant Sunni Arab minority. It won two more seats than the State of Law coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
None of Iraq’s major political coalitions captured an outright majority in the 325-seat legislature.
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