Iraq's Electoral Commission says it has received at least three complaints from political groups challenging the results of last month's national elections.

The commission, which announced election results Sunday, has given the parties three days to file complaints before it would certify the results and announce the allocation of seats in the 275-member interim national assembly.

A mainly Shi'ite Muslim coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance, won the largest share of the eight million votes, but fell just short of an outright majority.  A Kurdish coalition finished second, and allies of interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi came third.

Shi'ite politicians said Tuesday that the leader of the influential Dawa Islamic party, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, will likely be the United Iraqi Alliance's candidate for prime minister.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry says kidnappers have freed Turkish shipping magnate Kahraman Sadikoglu, who was abducted in southern Iraq in December.