A nationwide recount of votes showed on August 10 that populist Shia leader
Moqtada Tateral-Sadr
... the Iranian catspaw holy man who was 22 years old in 2003 and was nearing 40 in 2010. He spends most of his time in Iran, safely out of the line of fire, where he's learning to be an ayatollah...
retained his lead, positioning him to play a central role in the government negotiations.
Many Iraqis, including Kurdish and Sunni Arab groups, had disputed the results of the vote, alleging widespread electoral misconduct.
In June, a huge fire destroyed a warehouse housing boxes containing ballots from the May 12 vote.
Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, said that the blaze was started deliberately with the aim of harming the country's democracy.