Iraq was counting the votes today in national elections whose run-up cost scores their lives in insurgent attacks.

Iraq’s three-member presidential council today set March 6 as the date for the country’s parliamentary elections – a more than seven-week delay from the initially scheduled vote.

Iraq’s next general election will be held on January 30.

ALLIES of Iraq’s US-backed prime minister appeared yesterday to have made gains in the provincial elections, rewarding groups credited with reining in insurgents and militias, according to unofficial projections.