Iraqis go to the polls on Sunday in parliamentary elections seen as a pivotal test of democracy in the war-torn country six months before US combat troops quit the country.
Below are the six leading contenders for the post of prime minister. All are Shiites, with three belonging to religious parties and three to secular groupings. Five lived in exile during Saddam Hussein's reign.
The post will likely only be decided after lengthy negotiations that will inevitably follow the vote, as Iraq's proportional representation system ensures that no single alliance can hope to monopolise power.
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Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
The 60-year-old heads the State of Law Alliance, a religious coalition with a secular outlook that includes Sunni tribal sheikhs, Christians and independents.
The alliance emerged as the dominant force in provincial elections a year ago. But its hopes of capitalising on Maliki's role in reducing violence in Iraq have been undermined by a series of major attacks on government targets in the run-up to the March 7 vote.
Maliki leads the Dawa party, whose roots are Shiite Islamist. He was the compromise choice for prime minister in early 2006, when sectarian strife was reaching its peak and Sunni and Shiite militias were killing thousands.
He was in exile in Iran and in Syria during the Saddam era and returned home in 2003 after the US-led invasion that ousted the now-executed dictator.
Vice President Adel Abdel Mahdi
The 68-year-old economist is hoping to take his revenge on Maliki, who defeated his bid for post of prime minister in 2006 by just one vote in a ballot within a Shiite coalition that emerged triumphant from December 2005 parliamentary elections.
Mahdi is a leading figure in the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), the country's largest Shiite party.
The SIIC is in the Iraqi National Alliance, the chief rival to Maliki's coalition for the Shiite vote. It also includes followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and Ahmed Chalabi, an erstwhile US favourite but now accused by Washington of acting in Iran's interests.
Finance Minister Baqer Jaber Solagh
The 64-year-old engineer, who spent his exile years in Syria and Iran, is also a member of the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council.
He was interior minister from April 2005 until May 2006, when he was accused of setting up death squads in the police force that murdered Sunnis. He denied these accusations.
Iyad Allawi
The British-trained doctor, 64, was prime minister in a transitional government from 2004 to 2005. He was a member of Saddam Hussein's now-banned Baath party until 1971 but fell foul of the dictator and went into exile in Britain, where Iraqi agents attempted to assassinate him.
His Iraqiya list includes several Sunni parties, including the National Dialogue Front of Saleh al-Mutlak, who was barred from taking part in the election over his alleged links to the Baath Party.
Ahmed Chalabi
The former deputy prime minister, whose faulty intelligence encouraged the United States to invade Iraq in 2003, is the most controversial of the candidates. He has recently been accused by the top US army officer in Iraq of being "influenced by Iran."
Chalabi, 65, a mathematician by training, is on the Iraqi National Alliance list, the chief rival to Maliki's coalition for the Shiite vote, which includes followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.
Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani
Bolani, 50, a former air force engineer, is the only one of the six leading contenders who did not move abroad during the Saddam era. His Iraq Unity list knows it cannot hope to defeat the other major alliances in the race.
But he is hoping to emerge as a compromise candidate for prime minister in the horse trading expected to follow the election.
