Speaking instead about overall violence in Iraq, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appeared on television but did not address rumours he had been assassinated.

The New York Times reported Monday that the prime minister, awaiting the outcome of returns in his re-election bid, appeared on TV Sunday night, praising the work of Iraqi security forces during the elections.

Maliki said," I do not believe that the killing and the bombs can bend the people from their path."

The newspaper further said that the ballots from the March 7 election were still being counted with no public sighting of Maliki, providing grist for the conspiracy rumour mill.

"The reports of the prime minister's assassination are false," a headline in the Saudi-financed daily newspaper Asharq al-Awsat read.

The Times also reported that an article in the same newspaper quoted an anonymous "high-ranking Iraqi official" saying he would "not dismiss that Maliki survived an assassination attempt."

Amid the rumours, Iraqi citizens say the longer the delay in determining the winner of the election, the higher the chance of eventual violence.

Souad Hussein, 45, a teacher in Diyala Province, north of Baghdad, said, "Every day we hear on television reports of fraud and negative things taking place. Regardless of whether they are true or false, the delay raises doubts." (With Input from Agencies)