BAGHDAD (AP) - The top United Nations envoy in Iraq urged election officials Wednesday to release the results of this week's historic vote as quickly as possible, saying Iraqis "have the right to know" the results as soon as possible.

The call by UN diplomat Ad Melkert came as Iraqi election officials furiously counted ballot tallies in Sunday's election that appeared to be coming down to a contest between Prime Minister Nouri Maliki, former premier Iyad Allawi and a coalition of conservative Shiites.

Meeting with vote counters at the Independent High Electoral Commission in Baghdad, Melkert said the first results were likely to be released Thursday. He cited a "very complicated process" for the time it was taking.

"Now we hope, that as soon as possible, preliminary results can be made public because Iraqis have the right to know as soon as possible what is the outcome of their choice of the election day," Melkert told reporters at the commission headquarters.

Election commission officials also backed off an earlier announcement that preliminary results would be released Wednesday night. A senior member of the panel, Qassim Al Aboudi, said the first results likely would come Thursday.

The results of the parliamentary elections will largely set the course for Iraq as the US military prepares to leave at the end of 2011 - eight years after the invasion.

The election was only the country's second for a full parliamentary term, and it attracted 62 per cent of about 19 million eligible voters, according to the nation's election commission.

The last legislative election, in December 2005, attracted roughly 76 per cent of eligible voters.

With ballots still being counted, officials from Maliki’s State of Law coalition and the rival Iraqiya, led by Allawi, claimed to be ahead. Election officials across the country also reported a strong showing by the religious Iraqi National Alliance, which aims to cement Shiite dominance of Iraq.

Even before the ballots are counted, politicians have started new rounds of meetings to discuss future alliances to decide how power will be wielded in the new parliament.

“We should go forward to build a partnership and to overcome the mistakes of the past period, and to form a national service government that is able to end the suffering of the Iraqis,” Ammar Al Hakim, head of the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, said after a meeting with Sunni Vice President Tariq Al Hashemi.

The council is seen as close to Iran and is therefore reviled by most Sunni Arabs.

In a statement posted Wednesday on the presidential website, Hashemi called for “extensive and sincere efforts by all political blocs to form a real national unity government” that he said would deliver security, services and better relations with neighbouring countries.

Underscoring concerns that a dispute over the vote results could delay the new government and give rise to instability and violence, Melkert called the vote count “an honest counting”.