BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmakers Wednesday scheduled an emergency weekend meeting during their summer recess to resolve disagreements that have blocked a provincial elections law and threaten a new wave of bloodshed in the disputed northern city of Kirkuk.
The proposed law has raised ethnic tensions in the oil-rich area, which is emerging as one of the biggest threats to U.S.-backed efforts to heal the country’s sectarian rifts and prevent a resurgence of violence.
The standoff over control of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, is also the latest example of Iraqi political deadlock despite impressive military gains against Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents.
Parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al- Mashhadani scheduled a special meeting for Sunday after a deadline passed for the elections law to be ratified in time for the lawmakers’ month-long summer break, which began after Wednesday’s session.
The law enabling elections in Iraq’s 18 provinces would divide the ruling council in Tamim — of which Kirkuk is the largest city — equally among Kurds, Turkomen and Arabs. But Kurds and their allies hold a majority on the Tamim provincial council and oppose any move that would diminish their power.
With negotiations at a standstill, U.N. officials put forward a compromise, suggesting provincial elections be delayed in the Kirkuk area while going ahead in the 17 other provinces, according to a copy obtained from an Iraqi lawmaker.
U.S. officials have pushed hard for the elections, considered a necessary step toward national reconciliation. Many Sunni Arabs boycotted provincial balloting in January 2005, enabling Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power at the local level.
Meanwhile Wednesday, radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr offered full support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government if it refuses to sign an agreement President Bush has sought to allow semi-permanent stationing of U.S. troops in Iraq. Sadr warned at the same time that he would oppose any agreement between Iraq and the United States.
McClatchy Newspapers contributed to this report.
