Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, locked in a tight battle with his main rival to form Iraq's next government, has called for a manual recount of votes cast in the country's March 7 polls. The demand has been rejected by the country's election commission and slammed as a "clear threat" by the Iraqiya bloc that is neck-and-neck with the incumbent's State of Law Alliance in the race to be the biggest grouping in parliament. Latest figures from Iraq's election commission and based on 92 per cent of ballots cast show State of Law trailing Iraqiya, led by secular ex-premier Iyad Allawi, by less than 8000 votes nationwide.