Initial results of an opinion poll in southern Iraq suggest that Iyad Allawi, the secular-leaning interim prime minister, could prove an unexpected rival to an Islamist-backed list for the votes of the country's Shia majority.

According to Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a political researcher, the first round of a survey by his Iraq Centre for Research and Strategic Studies showed that Mr Allawi's "Iraqi List" was supported by 22 per cent of the 1,500 respondents in the predominantly Shia south and in Baghdad. (Financial Times)

Related link: Guide to Iraq's main political groupings (Financial Times)