VP discusses bilateral ties with French amb.

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashimi discussed with French ambassador in Baghdad Boris Bouillon bilateral relations and ways to further them as well as the new government formation and vote recount in Baghdad, according to a presidential statement on Sunday. “The two sides reviewed Iraqi-French relations and had consultations over current efforts to form a government and the recent decision by election authorities to have a recount of votes in some constituencies in Baghdad,” read the statement as received by IraqiNews.com news agency. The judicial pane for the elections had ruled that votes would be recounted exclusively in Baghdad upon contests offered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law) bloc that obtained 89 seats in the Iraqi parliamentary elections on March 7, coming second to former Premier Iyad Allawi’s al-Iraqiya bloc that won 91 seats. Ambassador Bouillon conveyed the condolences of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Francois Fillon and their denunciation of the brutal terrorist attacks that targeted innocent Iraqi civilians a couple of days ago. Four car bombs had targeted Shiite mosques in the capital Baghdad right after the Friday prayers, leaving 66 people killed and 150 others wounded. AmR (S) 2