<br/>In Iraq, the al-Iraqiya alliance of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi won Iraq’s parliamentary elections with 91 seats followed by Nouri al-Maliki’s alliance winning 89 seats. The Iraqi National Alliance won 70 and the Kurdistan Alliance 42 seats.<br/><br/> Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the result in a press conference in Baghdad. Coming fifth was another Kurdish bloc called Change, led by Noshirwan Mostafa, with eight seats.<br/><br/> According to Voice of Iraq news agency, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, who has called for a nationwide manual recount of votes, alleging irregularities in the counting process however, refused to accept the results. He claimed in a press conference in Baghdad that his alliance remained preliminary. UN envoy to Iraq and US ambassador welcomed the results.<br/><br/> The results were announced shortly after twin bomb attacks in the central Iraqi town of Khalis, northeast of Baghdad, killed 20 people and left 55 others wounded late today.