Iraqi parties to appeal vote results

The ensuing weeks are also expected to witness lengthy and complex negotiations to form a national unity government to rule the country for the next four years -- a process that observers say could take at least two months.

A number of political parties, including the conservative Shia United Iraqi Alliance, which took the lion's share of seats in the December 15 vote, are complaining over calculations used to distribute 45 seats allocated to parties on the basis of their overall performance.

The parliament's other 230 seats were allocated on a constituency basis in the country's 18 provinces with some parties also complaining about the count.

There are fears that the momentum from the elections could be lost during a lengthy negotiation period, especially one marked by increased bloodshed as happened during the formation of the transitional government last year.

Violence continued on Sunday with a bomb blast in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, that killing four Iraqi policeman and wounding eight as they patrolled the restive city.