BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A political bloc led by populist Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a long-time adversary of the United States who also opposes Iranian influence in Iraq, has won the country’s parliamentary election, the electoral commission said on Saturday. Al-Sadr -- who is remembered for leading an insurgency against U.S. forces after the 2003 invasion -- did not run for a seat himself and is unlikely to become prime minister, but will command a significant number of seats and has already begun informal talks about government formation. Mr al-Sadr and Mr al-Amiri both came in first in four of the 10 provinces where votes were counted, but the cleric's bloc won significantly more votes in the capital, Baghdad, which has the highest number of seats. Sadr became a symbol of resistance to foreign occupation when he led two violent uprisings against U.S. troops, prompting the Pentagon to call his Mehdi army militia the biggest threat to Iraq's security," the Reuters' report said.
The electoral commission announces the results of the May 12 elections. Muqtada al-Sadr's list wins most seats, followed by Hadi al-Amiri and Haider al-Abadi's groups.