Iraqi Shiites protest vote results in tense province

BAGHDAD – About 2,000 Shiites staged their first significant street protests against provincial election results Sunday, marching in tense Diyala province.

The demonstrators in the Shiite enclaves of Muqdadiyah and Khalis claimed Shiites were the victims of fraud and were denied seats on the influential provincial council.

Under heavy guard, the protesters – waving Iraqi flags and chanting “No to sectarianism” – also demanded the election commission be replaced, alleging a Sunni bias.

The rural province holds a mix of Iraq’s main sectarian and ethnic groups – Sunni Arabs, Shiites and Kurds – and has been a flashpoint for bloodshed among them and attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi police.

Sunnis won 15 seats on the incoming council in the Jan. 31 elections. Kurds took six and Shiites five. A secular party won three. The current council has 20 Shiites.

The elections were seen as a chance to extend the Sunni political voice and test the strength of main Shiite parties before national races later this year.

The provincial councils have no direct sway over national affairs but carry wide powers over regional matters such as business deals and local security.

In violence Sunday, a suicide bomber targeted an anti-insurgent Sunni tribal leader near Fallujah, killing the son of Sheik Khalid al-Eifan.

The U.S. military said a Marine died Saturday in a non-combat-related incident in Anbar province.