Topic: Sunni Arab and secular Shiites join to reject preliminary results

Sunni Arab and secular Shiites join to reject preliminary results, threaten to boycott new legislature

BAGHDAD, Iraq - (AP) Dozens of Sunni Arab and secular Shiite
groups joined forces Thursday to reject preliminary results from
parliamentary elections, and threatened to boycott the new legislature if
complaints that the polls were tainted are not properly reviewed.
A joint statement issued by 35 political groups that ran in last
week's elections said they wanted the Independent Electoral Commission of
Iraq _ which oversaw the ballot _ disbanded and more than 1,250 complaints
about fraud, ballot box stuffing and intimidation reviewed by international
organizations such as the United Nations. The groups included the main Sunni
Arab coalition, a secular Shiite bloc headed by former Prime Minister Ayad
Allawi, and the National Congress list headed by former minister Ahmed
al-Chalabi.