Iraqi political leaders reached a tentative compromise on Monday that could resolve a stalemate over the fate of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and allow local elections to go ahead, the deputy speaker of parliament said. Lawmakers rescheduled for Tuesday a vote on a provincial election law, which had been held up by wrangling over Kirkuk that has threatened to escalate into renewed ethnic strife.
Washington has been pressing hard on Iraqi leaders to resolve the stand-off before it jeopardises the elections, originally scheduled for October 1 and seen as vital to reconciling the country's factions and solidifying its fragile democracy.
"The new date has been set after fresh hope appeared of reaching an agreement," said Khalid al-Attiya, deputy parliament speaker and a member of Iraq's largest Shia bloc. A vote had been planned for Sunday but it was scrapped when lawmakers failed to agree on how the elections would affect Kirkuk, which minority Kurds want to make part of their semi-autonomous northern region.
Although violence has fallen to its lowest level since 2004, Iraq remains a dangerous place. Two US soldiers were killed and one was wounded on Monday when a bomb struck their vehicle in eastern Baghdad, the US military said.
Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi, a member of the Shia majority, gathered rival politicians at his home to broker an end to the stand-off over the elections, which the United States and United Nations are urging Iraq to hold this year. An initial vote to approve the bill last month was marred by a walk-out by Kurdish politicians, who oppose measures they see as robbing them of control of their ancestral capital. The bill passed without Kurdish support, but President Jalal Talabani - himself a Kurd - vetoed it and send it back to parliament for a second vote.
If the vote on the bill is delayed until after parliament's summer break, it could put the polls off until well into 2009. Lawmakers said the window for reaching an agreement was closing.
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