Iraqi Kurds walk out during parliament vote

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament passed legislation yesterday setting new rules for provincial elections, a step widely viewed here as critical to the country's process of political reconciliation.

But Kurdish lawmakers boycotted the vote over the status of Kirkuk, an oil-rich, ethnically mixed city that Kurdish leaders believe should come under the control of their autonomous regional government in northern Iraq. The move could undermine the legislation and delay the provincial elections, which had been expected this fall.

The controversy underscored the tensions across the political spectrum in Iraq, as well as potential flash points for violence.

The provincial-elections law would bring more power to regions and empower Sunni Arabs, who boycotted provincial elections in 2005, strengthening the Sunnis' position in a government dominated by Shiites and Kurds.

The Bush administration has been pushing for the elections, viewing them as vital to bridging Iraq's political divide and cementing security gains. But political disputes between ethnic and sectarian groups have delayed passage.

After the Kurdish walkout yesterday, Khalid al-Attiyah, the deputy parliamentary speaker, said it was unlikely that Iraq's three-member presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, would ratify the bill. If so, it could be sent back to parliament.

"We did not want for this law to be a reason for tension or poisoning the political atmosphere, but unfortunately this took place," Attiyah said.

Even if the law is enacted, it is unlikely that provincial elections will take place Oct. 1, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has sought. Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Iraqi electoral commission, said there was not time to prepare for elections by that date. If the legislation is ratified by the end of this month, the earliest elections could be held would be late December, he said.

"We have lost the chance to conduct the elections this year," Attiyah said.

Lawmakers have been bogged down over details of a power-sharing arrangement in Kirkuk among the city's three main ethnic groups: - Kurds, Arabs and Turkmens. The Kurds want the city to become part of the mostly autonomous Kurdish region, but Arabs and Turkmens want it to be a part of the central government.

Kurds now hold 21 of the 41 seats on Kirkuk's provincial council; Turkmens have 11 seats and Arabs eight. A Christian holds the remaining one. The U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team in Kirkuk, a diplomatic mission, said at least 60 percent of the province's population is Kurdish, with nearly 30 percent Arabs.

Saddam Hussein oppressed Kurds for years. After the U.S.-led invasion, they became politically dominant in the province in part because many Sunnis boycotted elections.

Arabs and Turkmens accuse the Kurds of funneling thousands of Kurds into the city and nearby areas to manipulate the voting population in their favor. So parliament decided to allocate the three groups 10 seats apiece on the provincial governing council. Candidates from the same group would compete for each seat. The Kurds opposed such a distribution.