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Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's bid to retain his job gained steam on Saturday as early results put him ahead in the capital, while rival blocs began jostling over the formation of a government.

Though the preliminary figures represent less than one-third of all votes cast, they have put Maliki firmly in pole position in the race for the top job, with only ex-premier Iyad Allawi having emerged as a potential rival.

The results from Iraq's second parliamentary election since Saddam Hussein's ouster seven years ago that sparked widespread sectarian bloodshed, come less than six months ahead of a dramatic US military downsizing which will see all American combat troops leave the country by the end of August.

Analysts said, however, that Maliki could be blocked in his bid to hold onto office even if his State of Law Alliance was the biggest single party in parliament, as other groups could manoeuvre to form a government without him.

With 18 percent of ballots counted in Baghdad, Maliki's State of Law Alliance was comfortably ahead with around 150,000 votes, followed by the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition led by Shiite religious parties, with 108,000. Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc was third on 105,000.

Baghdad and its seven million residents account for 70 parliamentary seats, or more than one-fifth of the 325-member Council of Representatives, making it a crucial win for any would-be government.

However, in northern mainly Sunni Nineveh province, which accounts for 34 seats, Iraqiya came out first, followed by the Kurdistania alliance, made up of the two long-dominant parties in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.

The National Concord Front, the main Sunni political bloc, was third.

News of Maliki's lead in Baghdad came shortly after a senior member of his coalition said State of Law had formed a committee to begin negotiating with rival blocs to hammer out a government.

"The committee met with representatives of four political entities that made progress in the elections," Abbas al-Bayati, a candidate for the coalition, told AFP, but he declined to say with which blocs the talks were held.

But Baghdad University professor Hamid Fadhel said that even if Maliki's group emerged as the biggest party in parliament, other groups could still shut him out and manage to form a government.

"There exists a desire to form an alliance between the INA and the Kurds, possibly also with Allawi," he told AFP. "They have all refused a long time to really see Maliki as the prime minister."

Underscoring Fadhel's analysis, Allawi and Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi were to travel to Arbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, on Saturday to meet with regional president Massud Barzani.

Barzani's office said he and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a Kurd, also met with Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi, an INA candidate, on Friday.

Iraq's proportional representation electoral system makes it unlikely that any single grouping will clinch the 163 seats necessary to form a government on its own.

Preliminary results from the March 7 polls released since Thursday have put Maliki's coalition in the lead in the predominantly Shiite southern provinces of Najaf, Babil, Karbala and Muthanna.

Allawi's Iraqiya was ahead in the mostly Sunni provinces of Diyala and Salaheddin, while the INA was in pole position in the southern Shiite provinces of Maysan and Diwaniyah.

The Kurdistania alliance, made up of Barzani and Talabani's dominant blocs, was leading in Arbil province.

Complete results are expected on March 18 and the final ones -- after any appeals are dealt with -- will likely come at the end of the month.

Iraqiya has alleged "flagrant fraud" took place during the election, but those complaints were described as "exaggerated" by State of Law.

An IHEC official has said the claims of fraud were either politically motivated or fuelled by a misunderstanding of the counting procedures, but said they would nevertheless be investigated.

AFP