World papers urge Iraqi leaders to heal divisions

The conservative Times of London called Iraq's first democratic election in nearly half a century "impressive," though it added that "care must be taken to recognise Sunni interests."

The results from the January 30 election announced Sunday showed the main clergy-backed Shia list winning about 48 percent of the vote, followed by the main Kurdish parties with a quarter of the votes and current Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list netting 13.8 percent.

Sunnis, in power under ousted dictator Saddam Hussein, largely boycotted the vote or were afraid to turn out because of security concerns.

"Whatever the election result, the worry is not about the number of seats that this or that list gets, but the fear, the whole fear that the balance has been broken," the Iraqi paper Al-Mashriq said. "The word 'consensus' is beautiful, but also difficult to realise."

The left-wing French daily Liberation noted in an editorial that the Shia alliance was chosen by only 28 percent of the population. That may be enough to govern "but it is not much with which to build a democracy. They should remember the best way to stay in power is often to begin by sharing it."

In the United States, the media said the results of the vote were hardly a win for the administration of US President George W. Bush. A government with a strong religious base and close ties to Shia-majority Iran is far from what the US expected from its costly investment in Iraq, analysts told The Washington Post.

"In terms of regional geopolitics, this is not the outcome that the United States was hoping for," Juan Cole, a University of Michigan expert on Iraq told the paper.

Iran and Iraq may now take similar positions on many issues -- at a time when the US is ratcheting up tensions with Tehran over its suspected nuclear weapons ambitions.

Also Allawi, hand-picked by the US to head the interim government, did not emerge with enough backing to continue his leadership position.

"The idea that the United States would get a quick, stable, prosperous, pro-American and pro-Israel Iraq has not happened," Rami Khouri, Arab analyst and editor of Beirut's Daily Star told the Post.

The New York Times described the results as a "fractured mandate" that will require the winning Shia alliance to strike deals with minority parties, most of them secular, which will probably prevent any sweeping changes such as granting Islam a central role in government.

The liberal British daily, the Guardian, described the results as "Shia delight," but said it was causing a "palpable nervousness" in the neighboring Sunni-ruled kingdoms and republics of the Middle East.