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BAGHDAD - The Iraqi prime minister's coalition and its main secular rival both claimed to be ahead in the vote count Monday, a day after historic parliamentary elections that the top US commander said would let all but 50,000 American troops come home by the end of summer.
Sunday's election, which took place against a backdrop of violence in Baghdad, marked a turning point for the country's nascent democracy. The winner will help determine whether Iraq can resolve its sectarian divisions and preserve the nation's fragile security as US troops leave.
Initial results for some provinces, as well as for Baghdad -- an area essential to determining any winner -- were to be announced Tuesday.
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Officials attributed the lower turnout to a combination of voter intimidation, more stringent ID requirements at the polls and a drop in voter excitement. A spate of attacks on election day - some directly targeting voters and polling stations - killed 36 people.
Gen. Ray Odierno, the top US commander in Iraq, called the election a milestone and said that every sign suggests Iraq will be able to peacefully form a new government in the coming months, and US combat troops can head home by the end of August.
Most of the roughly 96,000 troops in Iraq will remain here through May, when the military will begin scaling down to 50,000 noncombat troops by the Obama administration's self-imposed deadline at the start of September, Odierno said.
The timetable calls for all troops to be out by the end of 2011.
"Unless there's a catastrophic event, we don't see that changing," Odierno said.
With ballots still being counted, officials from both the State of Law coalition led by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the rival Iraqiya claimed to be leading. Iraqiya is a secular alliance led by Shiite former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, but it also contains many Sunnis.