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KIRKUK, Iraq, Feb 13 (AFP) - 16h19 - Kurds in
Kirkuk on Sunday celebrated absolute victory in
local council elections in Tamin province -- home to
the disputed Iraqi oil city -- flying Kurdistani
flags and shooting into the air.
The Kirkuk Brotherhood list of the two main Kurdish
parties -- the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the
Kurdistan Democratic Party -- won 58.4 percent of
votes, or 237,303 out of 405,951 ballots cast, the
electoral commission said.
The Kurds want Kirkuk to be added to the three
autonomous provinces of Iraqi Kurdistan. Thousands
of Kurds displaced from the city by the former
regime were allowed to return to vote on January 30.
Kurds celebrated the results in style, driving
through northern Kirkuk with Kurdistani flags
flying, shooting in the air and blaring their horns.
The Turkmen minority represented by the Turkmen
Front came in second place with 16 percent of the
vote, or 73,791 ballots.
Several Arab and Turkmen organisations denounced
alleged irregularities in the historic January 30
vote even before final results were announced.
Sunni Arab and Shiite parties withdrew from the vote
in Tamim to protest against displaced Kurds being
allowed to return to vote.
AP
Main
Kurdish list in second place with 25.7 percent of
Iraq vote
BAGHDAD, Feb 13 (AFP) - 14h43 - The main
Kurdish alliance came in second place in Iraq's
historic election, with 25.7 percent of the vote,
well ahead of the list of interim Prime Minister
Iyad Allawi which took 13.8 percent, the electoral
commission announced Sunday.
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