The counting of ballots cast by Iraqisliving in Jordan concluded here Tuesday, and initial results showedinterim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi is taking a lead, a pressrelease said.

Nearly 92.2 percent of the 20,166 overseas Iraqis registered inJordan cast their ballots, according to the release issued by theInternational Organization for Migration (IOM), which is in chargeof the out-of-country voting for the Iraqi elections.

The IOM said the three-day polls ending on Jan. 30 in 14countries were successful beyond their expectations, as nearly 94percent of registered voters cast ballots.

"The vote went absolutely smoothly," Peter Erben, IOM director,told a news conference in Amman Monday.

The IOM expects to complete the vote counting by Thursday andsend the results to the Independent Election Commission of Iraq(IECI) by Saturday.

The final results of the parliamentary elections are expectedwithin 10 days, the IECI said.

A 275-seat national assembly will be formed by proportionalrepresentation of votes with a one-year mandate. It will choose atransitional government and draft a permanent constitution put fora national referendum by Oct. 15.