With a major US troop drawdown set for August hanging in the balance, Clinton amplified concerns among US officials over Iraq's long drawn-out effort to finalize the election results amid factional squabbling.

A judicial panel was set to rule Wednesday on the fate of nine other election-winning candidates who stand to be disqualified in a process that has thrown formation of the government into disarray.

On Monday, the panel eliminated at least one winning candidate and around 50 others who failed to secure parliamentary seats, drawing anger from former premier Iyad Allawi whose secular coalition narrowly won the March 7 vote.

One of those disqualified was a winning candidate from Allawi's Iraqiya bloc, which has alleged that it is being targeted by officials and religious parties who do not want him to obtain power.

Allawi, a Shiite, whose strong backing in Sunni Arab areas led him to defeat incumbent Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, also Shiite, 91 seats to 89, according to unofficial results, said Iraqiya would challenge the disqualifications.

Clinton appeared to echo concerns about the process of verifying the election results.

"The United States respects the legal avenues that Iraq has set up for challenges to candidates and to electoral results," the chief US diplomat said in a statement.

"However, for challenges to be credible and legitimate they must also be transparent and must accord with the laws and mechanisms established for the conduct of the elections," she said.

Clinton was careful to say the United States "does not support a particular party or candidate" and instead wants a "long-term partnership" with a stable, sovereign and self-reliant Iraq, as Washington cuts its troop presence there.

"The United States calls upon Iraq's leaders to set aside their differences, respect the courageous ballots of the Iraqi people, and to form quickly a government, that is inclusive and represents the will of all Iraqis," she said.

The US ambassador to Baghdad, Christopher Hill, on Monday voiced concerns about delays that, almost seven weeks after the election, have left Iraq apparently no closer to forming a government after a tight election race.

In a news conference in Ankara, Allawi said his party's lawyers would object to the disqualifications at the appeals court. "I am sure we will be successful," Allawi said.

But he appeared less confident that the procedures being followed were fair.

"Frankly, we are very worried... the political process is now in the hands of a group of people from the Iraqi judiciary," Allawi said. "They pass or reverse decisions to their liking."

Although Allawi defeated Maliki, both fell massively short of the 163 seats needed to form a majority in a new 325-seat parliament, ushering in so far fruitless coalition negotiations between them and smaller parties.

Ali al-Lami, the chief of a controversial Justice and Accountability committee (JAC), whose recommendations were approved by a three-member judicial panel on Monday, said two of the 52 disqualified candidates had won seats in the election.

He said the decision was based on their links to the Baath party of now executed dictator Saddam Hussein. "Tomorrow, they will pronounce on nine other winners," Lami told AFP.

However, Hamdiyah al-Husseini, a senior official from the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Iraq's election authority, told state television late Monday only one winning candidate had been disqualified.

But a spokesman for the commission, Ayad al-Kilnani, confirmed to AFP Tuesday that 52 candidates had been disqualified, and that they would have a month to appeal the decision before a seven-judge panel.

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