Nationalist Moqtada Sadr, whose bloc won the largest share of seats in Iraq's May legislative elections, has strengthened his parliamentary position by forming an alliance with two other lists.

Sadr's move comes after parliament voted on Wednesday for a manual recount, cancelled expatriates' votes and sacked the electoral commission, amid mounting allegations of fraud surrounding the May 12 poll.

His strengthened bloc gives Sadr around 100 seats, but not enough to generate a majority in the 329 seat parliament.

Soleimani met outgoing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, whose list secured 42 seats, former anti-militant fighters from the paramilitary Hashd al-Shaabi units (47 seats) and former prime minister Nuri al-Maliki (26 seats).

If these groups form an alliance, they would take 115 seats -- enough to form a government, according to Iraq's Constitution.

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