Political turmoil prompts federalist calls

Rumblings of dissent in oil-rich areas of Iraq are growing, as a political race in Baghdad has seen incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki suffer defeat, and his party supporters cry fraud ever more loudly.

Following the announcement on Friday that Maliki's State of Law coalition had won 89 seats in the new parliament to his rival Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya bloc's 91, Maliki has unleashed a vicious criticism of the United Nations' role in the election and continued to call for a manual recount of all ballots.