The Shia-based United Iraqi Alliance won 128 of parliament's 275 seats, the electoral commission said, almost five weeks after Iraqis went to the polls on December 15. Their allies in the Kurdish Alliance won 53 seats.

The results, though final, still need to be certified after a new appeals period to stand.

The Shia and Kurdish formations, who joined forces in the outgoing government, were just three seats short of the two-thirds majority needed to elect a president and push through constitutional reforms.

The Sunni-based National Concord Front took 44 seats and another Sunni-based party, the National Dialogue Front, won 11 seats.

Former prime minister Iyad Allawi's secular-based Iraqi National List took 25 seats and the Kurdish Islamic Party won five seats.

The outcome of the election is seen as a crucial milestone in rebuilding Iraq, with hopes pinned on encouraging the disenchanted Sunni community to play a full role in political life and thereby dampen the raging insurgency.

However it remains in doubt to what extent the Sunnis, who dominated the regime under Saddam Hussein and form the backbone of the insurgency, will accept the results of the poll.

Preliminary results had given a strong showing for the conservative Shia alliance and their Kurdish allies, prompting calls of fraud and vote rigging from Sunni and secular political parties.