Iraq national vote unlikely in Jan - official

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq will be unable to hold a national election in January as planned, a poll official said on Tuesday, heaping more uncertainty on a vote meant to cement democracy and pave the way for a partial U.S. troop withdrawal.

The general election was supposed to be held between January 18-23, but Iraq's Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, last week vetoed a law needed to hold the polls on grounds that Iraqis abroad were under-represented.

Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis fled the sectarian violence triggered by the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and many are Sunni.

Parliament returned the law to the presidential council, including Hashemi, Monday, but deliberately failed to address his concerns and in all likelihood it will be vetoed again.

"In all cases the possibility of holding the vote in January is over," said Faraj al-Haidari, head of the electoral commission.

In theory the election law must be passed 60 days before the vote, making Tuesday the last day lawmakers can reach agreement to meet the January 23 proposed election date.

But after a heated parliamentary session Monday, the fractious parliament seemed more divided than ever.

Lawmakers belonging to Iraq's majority Shi'ite community and minority Kurdish community voted for amendments to the election law that would weaken Sunni voter representation, a move some said was meant as a poke in the eye for Hashemi.