>Nationwide, Maliki's State of Law list held a lead of more than 125,000 votes over Iraqiya, a secular, cross-sectarian alliance headed by former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a week after a national election seen as a test of Iraq's tenuous democracy as it emerges from years of sectarian slaughter.Maliki was ahead by strong margins two key areas, the capital, Baghdad, and the southern oil hub, Basra.If he wins a plurality, Maliki, who decided to run on his own after his erstwhile Shi'ite allies declined to guarantee him the top government post, is likely to seek a second term as prime minister.Here are five facts about Maliki:* Maliki was born at Hindiya, south of Baghdad, in 1950. He holds a masters degree in Arabic and worked at the Education Ministry before fleeing in 1980 to neighboring Syria and then Iran under sentence of death for his political activism. He returned after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, but did not appear in the spotlight like other politicians who were described by some Iraqis as riding in on American tanks.* Maliki was thrust to the forefront of Iraqi politics in April 2006 with the image of a Shi'ite Islamist who might be able to weld rival factions into a national unity government. He was sworn in as prime minister in May 2006.* Maliki has struggled to control a fractious government forged of fragile alliances and a desire to stitch Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups together. But in the last two years he has emerged stronger after sending the army to fight Shi'ite militia and presiding over a sharp fall in overall violence.* Over time, many of Maliki's former allies have become foes. He bristled at criticism in 2007 from U.S. lawmakers. He harbors evident hatred of the Saddam regime which repressed Iraq's Shi'ite majority and assassinated many of his political colleagues. Many Sunnis fear he has little interest in affording them a fair share of power.* Maliki has trodden a fine diplomatic line with Shi'ite Iran, a U.S. foe which fought a 1980-88 war with Saddam's Iraq. Some say he has bowed to Iranian demands, citing an occasion when he met President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without a necktie, in deference to Iranian revolutionary fashion. Others say Tehran wants Maliki replaced because it does not consider him sufficiently friendly to its interests.(Editing by Michael Christie and Jon Hemming) World