A spokesman for the White House followed up the UN's unequivocal backing for the December 15 election with his own statement of support, with both institutions promoting the formation of a coalition government.
"I don't think most are suggesting that there needs to be a re-run because it is the belief that the elections were fair. And that is our view as well," said White House spokesman Trent Duffy.
More election protests
In a demonstration in the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, hundreds of
Sunni Arabs and Turkmen protested election results that gave a dominant position to the Kurdish Alliance which wants to include the city in the Kurdish autonomous region.
"We demand the re-run of elections," said one of the banners at the demonstration, while others condemned alleged electoral fraud, indirectly accusing Shiites and Kurds.
The past two days have seen thousands demonstrate in Baghdad as well as in predominantly Sunni Arab cities such as Samarra and Tikrit, calling for a re-run of the election or the formation of a national unity government.
In a letter to the Iraqi people following a visit earlier this month, US
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld urged the Iraqis to form a coalition government.
"We look forward to supporting your wise decisions in fashioning a broadly based government that can earn the support of all elements of the Iraqi people," said Mr Rumsfeld.
Kurdish and Shiite political leaders have been meeting in the north of the country to discuss the shape of the nation's first full-term government.
Allawi denounces vote
The Sunni Arabs' chief ally in denouncing alleged electoral fraud has been the National Iraqi List of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose mixed coalition faired poorly in the elections.
"There were many violations, we have submitted these violations with the proof to the electoral commission," he told CNN Wednesday. "We are waiting for the results."
Mr Allawi is calling for a re-run of the elections in certain provinces.
While the electoral commission has stood by preliminary election results it published, it has acknowledged there were a number of irregularities and, in some cases, are planning to toss out results believed to be fraudulent.
"In the next few days we will cancel results in some polling stations that have seen vote rigging in some governorates," commission member Abdel Hussein al-Hendawi told reporters.
French hostage video
Meanwhile the long silence over the condition of French hostage Bernard Planche was ended when the first public communication from his kidnappers aired on Al-Arabiya satellite channel.
More than three weeks after his capture, a man identified as Mr Planche by the French embassy in Baghdad appeared in a black-and-white video alongside two gunmen, describing his age, nationality and work as a hydraulic engineer in Iraq.
The group, calling itself the Battalion of the Look-out for Iraq, claimed the kidnapping and "threatened to kill him if France does not end its illegitimate presence in Iraq," said the channel's presenter.
France, one of the fiercest opponents of the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, does not have any troops in the country.
"We demand the immediate release of Mr Planche as nothing can justify his being taken hostage in Iraq," said French foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes Romatet-Espagne.
In the last month, there has been a surge in kidnappings of foreigners, including four peace activists, a Jordanian driver and six Sudanese nationals.
And a German archeologist, recently released after being held hostage for 24 days in Iraq, said her kidnappers were linked to Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Meanwhile, US fighter jets dropped two 500-pound bombs on suspected insurgents in a northern Iraq town, killing 10, the US military reported.
The F-16 jets were on a routine patrol near Hawija, southwest of the northern oil hub of Kirkuk on Tuesday when they noticed men digging holes near a road to plant explosives.
The men fled to a nearby village, but were killed when they were attacked by the jets, the statement said.