Ambassador Christopher Hill renewed his defense of the March 7 election, dismissing charges that there was ballot-stuffing in the vote that put Maliki's bloc a whisker behind rival Iyad Allawi's forces.

Maliki "has been very clear with us in private and very clear in public that he will follow the law," Hill told reporters in Washington by videolink from Baghdad.

"The Iraqi people went to the polls in great numbers and I think the Iraqi people expect all of their politicians -- whether it's the prime minister or whether it's the challenger -- to follow the letter of the law," Hill said.

Hill downplayed suggestions the political row could descend into violence, saying that Iraq was a rare place in the region where candidates have agreed to abide by voters' mandate.

"This is a country that has had a recent history with violence, so it is quite understandable that people look at this question," Hill said. "But so far it is very much on a political track, which is where we want to keep it."

Hill said he was not surprised that Maliki was contesting the results.

"It's not easy to lose a close election," Hill said. "I don't think people should be too surprised that there (are) some comments that reflect the anguish of losing."

But Hill said it was too early to tell who would emerge as the victor as Maliki, Allawi and other politicians jockey to form a ruling coalition.

Maliki on Sunday accused UN envoy Ad Melkert of inaction over his allegations of fraud.

Hill countered that the United Nations had conducted a "major-league" effort.

"We would not share any criticism of the UN. On the contrary, we are really quite supportive of what the UN did," Hill said.

The United States, which overthrew Saddam Hussein's regime in a 2003 invasion, is keen to see a smooth transition.

Under President Barack Obama's plan, all combat troops will leave Iraq in about five months as the administration puts a growing focus on Afghanistan.

Hill said that the United States was ready to work with whoever emerged as the head of the next government.

"I want to make very clear, the US does not have a favorite in this election," Hill said. "We are prepared to work with whoever is democratically elected, whoever observes democratic rules and is able to emerge from this process."

Hill expected a growing role in coalition negotiations by the supporters of young Shiite firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

The US ambassador said he understood that Sadr is staying in Iran in the Shiite holy city of Qom.

"Suffice to say at this point that the Sadrists did better than they did before. They've certainly expanded the number of seats," Hill said.

"I think most people believe they ran a very good campaign."

Sadr, said to be in his 30s, gained wide popularity among Shiites in Iraq in the months after the US-led invasion of 2003 and in 2004 when his Mahdi Army militia battled US troops in two bloody revolts.

related report
Iraq's Allawi accuses Iran of interference
Former Iraqi premier Iyad Allawi accused neighbouring Iran on Tuesday of seeking to prevent him becoming prime minister again, after his bloc emerged strongest from national elections.

Tehran was interfering in the election process in Iraq, where his Iraqiya bloc won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, two more than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Alliance, he told the BBC.

"Iran is interfering quite heavily and this is worrying," Allawi told the British broadcaster, accusing the Islamic republic of inviting all the major parties to Tehran apart from his bloc.

"They have invited everybody -- but they haven't invited us -- to Tehran," he said.

Asked directly whether Iran wanted to stop him becoming prime minister, Allawi responded: "I think so, they made it very clear... that they have a red line.

"We are concerned about respecting the will of the Iraqi people."

Neither Iraqiya nor State of Law clinched an overall parliamentary majority and a protracted period of coalition building, which could take months, is now expected.

Senior figures from State of Law and other major Iraqi parties have visited Tehran since the March 7 parliamentary election -- but no official from Iraqiya is known to have travelled to the Iranian capital.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who heads one of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant blocs, and Shiite Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi, a member of the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), both visited Tehran over the weekend to mark Nowrouz, the Iranian and Kurdish New Year.

The INA is a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, including the movement loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Since Talabani and Abdel Mahdi's visit, senior officials from Maliki's State of Law, the Sadrist movement, and the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, a Shiite religious group that is also part of the INA, have visited the Iranian capital.

Allawi's comments came as the US ambassador to Iraq voiced confidence that al-Maliki would abide by the law despite his mounting criticism of what he alleges is election fraud.

Ambassador Christopher Hill downplayed suggestions the political row following the election could descend into violence.

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