U.N. calls for political unity in Iraq

UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (UPI) -- The success of legislative elections in Iraq represents a rejection of violence but more work is needed on government unity, U.N. officials said.

An Iraqi election committee said it was sending the results of the March 7 vote for Council of Representatives to the Iraqi Supreme Court for certification following a series of appeals.

Ad Melkert, the U.N. special envoy to Iraq, told the U.N. Security Council that elections in Iraq were a milestone for the war-torn country.

"It represents a firm rejection by the vast majority of the Iraqi electorate of the violent forces and their objectives," he said.

He cautioned, however, that the level of violence in Iraq was "chilling," pointing to conflicts that left more than 2,000 Iraqis dead so far in 2010. Added to that list was the Tuesday slaying in Mosul of Bashar al-Ouqeidi, a lawmaker tasked for a seat in parliament on the Iraqiya slate.

The secular Iraqiya slate scored a narrow victory over the State of Law coalition of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the March contest. Neither party secured the majority needed to secure a new government. Maliki is discussing teaming with the Iraqi National Alliance, however. That coalition would be four seats shy of the 163-seat majority.

Melkert said he was encouraging the winning parties to meet to discuss any power-sharing processes needed to form a new government.

"At this juncture, Iraq would probably be better served by a broadly inclusive government as a radical alternative to exclusion and disenfranchisement that many communities have experienced in the past," he said.