Allies of Iraq's prime minister finished first in races for ruling councils in Baghdad and eight other provinces, official results from last weekend's election show. Nouri al-Maliki's party won 38% of the vote in Baghdad, the election commission said. His party was followed by allies of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni party, with 9% each.
In Basra, the country's second-biggest city, the prime minister's followers won 37% of the vote. The Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, the biggest Shiite party, won 11.6%. Voters chose ruling councils in 14 of the 18 provinces in the first election since December 2005. (More Iraq stories.)