After weeks of vote counting and accusations, the UN Security Council urged Iraq's political parties to respect results of the country's general elections, calling on their leaders to refrain from inflammatory actions.
Not long after, a senior Iraqi official was killed at his home and a woman and her daughter were discovered dead, likely tortured, in separate incidents in Baghdad, an interior ministry official said Thursday.
"Armed men entered the house of Mohammed Jalab Ahmed, the deputy director general of the ministry of health and shot him in his garden," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
UN calls for calm
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Earlier, a non-binding statement issued by Gabon's UN envoy Emmanuel Issoze-Ngondet on behalf of the 15-member council urged the parties "to respect the certified election results and the choices of the Iraqi people."
On Tuesday, ex-premier Iyad Allawi complained that Iran was "interfering" in the political process to try to block his path by holding talks with all of Iraq's major political groups except his secular Iraqiya bloc.
UN Council members also called on Iraq's political leaders "to avoid inflammatory rhetoric and actions," according to Issoze-Ngondet, who chairs the council this month.
Despite numerous attacks, the members congratulated the Iraqi people and government on the successful March 7 polls, saying they looked forward to the certification by the Supreme Court of the results announced last week.
Little progress has been made in forming a coalition government in the more than three weeks since the election, while negotiations between its main blocs have revealed key differences between the parties.
Ex-Prem missing commanding negotiating position
Hopes for rapid results have dimmed as Allawi's slim lead - his bloc won 91 parliamentary seats, two more than Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's - has failed to give him a commanding negotiating position.
Council members said they took note of the findings of international and independent Iraqi observers "who affirmed their confidence in the overall integrity of the election."
They also looked forward to the formation of the new government in a spirit of cooperation and respect for national unity.
Last week, UN special representative to Iraq Ad Melkert described the polls as "credible" after the country's Independent High Electoral Commission said there was no evidence of systematic or widespread fraud in the counting of ballots.
On Wednesday Iran denied it was meddling in Iraqi politics, but added it stood ready to help.
