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BAGHDAD — The secular front-runner in Iraq’s elections welcomed the support of a leading Iranian-linked Shiite party Friday while a powerful anti-U.S. cleric canvassed his followers in a poll that could set the stage for a turn against the incumbent prime minister.
The backing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council was the latest boost for Ayad Allawi, whose Iraqiya bloc has emerged as the front-runner to form a government.
SIIC leader Ammar Al-Hakim’s announced his party’s support for Allawi hours before followers of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr voted in an unofficial referendum on which candidate their movement should support. The vote Friday could give the Sadrist leadership an excuse not to support Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
