Refugees mixed on Iraqi elections

BEIRUT, Lebanon, March 16 (UPI) -- Iraqi refugees who voted outside the country in parliamentary elections gave mixed results on the hopes for their country, the U.N. refugee agency said.

Iraqi refugees in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria turned out to vote in the elections to bring in a new government for Iraq. Much of the refugee population is Sunni.

Preliminary vote totals indicate the State of Law coalition of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is leading over rivals in the secular Iraqiya slate and the Iraqi National Alliance.

No coalition, however, is expected to take a clear majority, leaving Baghdad likely hamstrung through the summer as power-sharing negotiations take place.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said most of the Iraqi refugees in the Middle East who voted reacted positively to the wide political representation and participation during the elections. Sunnis boycotted elections in 2005.

Those who chose not to vote, however, were cynical about the possibility of political change in Iraq. An election ban on several influential Sunni leaders cast doubt over the campaign ahead of the March 7 vote.

Iraqi elections officials oversaw voting in foreign countries.