A picture taken from an insurgent website allegedly shows a US soldier sitting in front of a black banner with a rifle pointing to his head. (Reuters)

Baghdad, Feb. 2 (Reuters): A leading group of Iraqi Sunni clerics said today any government emerging from Iraq?s landmark election would lack legitimacy because many people had boycotted the poll.

Millions defied threats by Sunni militants and flocked to the polls on Sunday, but while turnout was high in the Shia south and Kurdish north, many in the central Sunni heartland stayed at home.

?These elections lack legitimacy because a large segment of different sects, parties and currents with their influence in Iraq boycotted,? the Muslim Clerics? Association said.

?This necessarily means the coming National Assembly and government that will emerge from it will not possess the legitimacy to enable them to draft the coming constitution or sign any security or economic agreements.?

The Muslim Clerics Association, which urged Iraqis to boycott the poll because of US-led attacks on Sunni cities, warned the UN that it would open a Pandora?s box if it gave the election its seal of approval.

?We warn the UN and the international community of the danger of granting these elections legitimacy because this will open a door of evil and they will be the first to bear responsibility,? it said.

Iraqis voted for a 275-member transitional national assembly on Sunday that will appoint a government and draft a constitution to be approved by referendum in October, before a general election for a full-term government by year-end.

The Muslim Clerics? Association, which has helped negotiate the release of foreign hostages in the past, said it would respect the decision of those Iraqis who had chosen to vote but would regard the new government has having only limited powers.

The chief of police in the Iraqi city of Mosul has given insurgents two weeks to give up their weapons or face a crackdown by security forces emboldened after the election.

But al Qaida militants in Iraq issued a new threat to assassinate the northern city's governor. ?Hand over your weapons or we will come and get you,? police chief Brigadier Mohammed Ahmed al-Jabouri said in a television address yesterday.

The ultimatum came two days after Iraq held successful national elections despite insurgent threats.