8:47am EST

(Reuters) - A list led by Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was leading the vote in two provinces in southern Iraq after parliamentary elections this week, according to preliminary results from the country's electoral commission.

The results, the first to be released, showed Maliki ahead in Najaf and Babil, in Iraq's largely Shi'ite south.

(Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed and Rania El Gamal; Editing by Andrew Dobbie)