CAIRO: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani briefed Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak Sunday on developments in Baghdad where a new government has yet to emerge after the March disputed parliamentary polls.
Talabani told reporters he informed Mubarak on "the situation in Iraq and developments following the elections," and he also thanked Egypt for its "balanced position towards Iraq."
On Monday, twin car bombs against factory workers and an apparently coordinated series of attacks targeting security forces killed 68 people in Iraq in the bloodiest day to hit the country this year.
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met Talabani on Saturday and called for the creation of a representative coalition government that includes all political forces, in order to give credibility to the political process, his spokesman Hossam Zaki said.
Aboul Gheit stressed "the importance of a government that would represent all Iraqi political movements and communities so (Iraqis) can feel that the political process is inclusive and comprehensive, which would give credibility to Iraq and its future government at home and internationally."
Full results from the March 7 parliamentary elections were initially expected to be ratified in early April, but counting delays, multiple complaints and appeals from political groups have set this back.
The Iraqiya bloc of secular former premier Iyad Allawi won the most seats in the vote with 91, followed closely by sitting Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance with 89.
The Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, finished third with 70 seats.
State of Law and the INA announced on Wednesday that they had struck a deal to form a coalition to squeeze out Allawi, but with their alliance still falls four seats short of a parliamentary majority.
The final number of seats gained by each party could yet change, however, as the election commission is conducting a manual recount of votes in Baghdad.
Results from all but one province were sent for ratification on Sunday and a recount in the lone exception, Baghdad, was half-way done.
