BAGHDAD, Jan. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq's Shiite parties won the Dec.15 parliamentary elections, but short of an absolute majority,according to results from the Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq (IECI) on Friday.

    The Shiite bloc won 128 seats in the 275-member parliament,which was short of an absolute majority, the IECI said, adding that the Kurdish bloc garnered 53 seats.

    Two main Sunni groups won altogether 55 seats, according to the results.

    Sunni Arabs were under-represented in the interim parliament after a majority of them boycotted the January elections in 2005.

    Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular list won 25 seats.Enditem