By Liz Sly,Chicago Tribune

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraq’s post-election calm was shattered Thursday by a string of insurgent attacks that killed at least 29 people, including three U.S. Marines.

The resurgence of violence came as officials released the first partial results of Sunday’s historic voting, showing a commanding lead for the coalition of Shiite parties endorsed by top Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

According to results from 10 percent of the nation’s polling stations, the United Iraqi Alliance holds a commanding lead over its nearest rival, a group headed by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, Iraq’s Independent Election Commission said.

With 1.6 million votes counted, the figures show that the Shiite-dominated alliance has gained 1.1 million votes to Allawi’s 360,500.

If the trend continued, it would put the alliance in a powerful position to dominate the 275-member National Assembly that will write Iraq’s new constitution and form the new government. A two-thirds majority will be needed for the constitution to be approved and for key government appointments. However, the results come from only six of the country’s 18 provinces, and the picture may change as tallies come in from other areas, officials cautioned. Five of the six provinces are in the Shiite south, where the turnout among Shiites was high.

The resumption of insurgent attacks came after a three-day lull, is a reminder that the election has not resolved the core issues driving the insurgency, including the alienation of the Sunni community and the presence of foreign troops.

The election results also include a quarter of the polling stations in populous Baghdad.

Although the votes came from 10 percent of the nation’s polling stations, it cannot be construed that the 1.6 million votes tallied represent 10 percent of the total vote, election officials said.

Altogether, an estimated 14 million Iraqis were eligible to vote, but officials say they still don’t know the total size of the turnout and it could be another 7 to 10 days before a final result is known.

Already it is clear that Iraqis voted strongly along ethnic and regional lines, with Iraq’s majority Shiites in the south stampeding to cast ballots for the alliance, Kurds in the north voting for a coalition of the two leading Kurdish parties and Sunnis in the center voting in low numbers for a range of parties.

The biggest concern is that the low Sunni turnout will amplify the share of the vote won by the Shiite alliance, leaving Iraq’s already disgruntled Sunnis feeling even more alienated from a political process over which they feel they have little influence.

The resumption of insurgent attacks came after a three-day lull, is a reminder that the election has not resolved the core issues driving the insurgency, including the alienation of the Sunni community and the presence of foreign troops.

Most of the victims were members of Iraq’s embattled security forces, who won plaudits from ordinary Iraqis for their role in securing the country for Sunday’s historic vote.

In the worst incident, 12 Iraqi army recruits were killed south of Kirkuk when their minibus was stopped by gunmen who ordered them off the bus and then opened fire.

Two more police were killed and 13 were reported missing after gunmen ambushed their convoy near Abu Ghraib, west of Baghdad.

The U.S. military said two Marines were killed in continuing violence in the restive province of Anbar, where voter turnout was believed to be the lowest in the country, and one was killed in Babil province south of Baghdad. According to The Associated Press, at least 12 other people died in a string of incidents across the Sunni heartland, including attacks in Mosul, on the Baghdad airport road and in the town of Qaim near the Syrian border.

Election Day violence killed more than 50 Iraqis in 260 attacks, the largest number of incidents recorded in a single day.

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(c) 2005, Chicago Tribune.

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Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): USIRAQ

GRAPHIC (from KRT Graphics, 202-383-6064): 20050203 USIRAQ

AP-NY-02-03-05 2028EST

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