Election officials in Iraq have certified results of the December 15 legislative poll, confirming the near majority of parliament seats won by Shiite religious parties.

The announcement Friday, confirmed initial results issued last month that gave 128 seats to the dominant Shi'ite coalition, the United Iraqi Alliance. The Kurdish Allliance won 53 seats and the Sunni-led Iraqi Accordance Front took 44 seats in the 275-member parliament.

Under Iraq's constitution, the new parliament should convene within the next 15 days.

Meanwhile, Iraqi police say at least four people were killed and at least 17 others wounded in a car bomb attack in Baghdad, Friday.

Separately, gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a Sunni Arab cleric from his Baghdad home.

Thursday, kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll appeared in a new video broadcast on Kuwaiti television urging that the demands of her Iraqi captors be met as quickly as possible.

Her captors, who have previously threatened to kill her, are demanding that all female detainees in Iraq be released.