Shiites to Stay Together to Contest Ballot

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The alliance of Shiite religious parties that swept Iraq's historic election in January has agreed to remain together to contest the Dec. 15 parliamentary ballot, an official said Friday.

Roadside bombs, meanwhile, killed two American soldiers in Baghdad and in Ramadi, west of the capital, on Thursday, raising to 2,007 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the war in Iraq began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The decision by the United Iraqi Alliance to stay unified could ensure that its religious parties, which all have strong Iranian ties, remain a prominent force in Iraq's next parliament.

The alliance's move also appeared to indicate that the national election on Dec. 15 will once again be contested along ethnic and sectarian lines: the main Shiite coalition, secular alliances of Shiites and Sunnis, and separate Sunni Arab and Kurdish slates. But behind-the-scene talks by the parties were still under way ahead of Friday night's deadline for them to submit their final list of coalition candidates to the Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq, or IECI.

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