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Iraq
Iraq passes three controversial bills to address demands of Kurds, Shiites, Sunnis
2025-01-23
[Rudaw] Iraq’s legislature on Tuesday passed three controversial bills regarding the return of land confiscated under the Baath regime to the original Kurdish owners, the amendments to the controversial personal status law pushed for by the Shiite blocs, and the general amnesty bill that would change the definition of affiliation with terror groups desired by Sunni groups after months of disagreements.

Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni politicians last year introduced three bills which later became a headache for the parliament as discussions and voting on them were repeatedly delayed due to agreements.

However,
it's easy to be generous with someone else's money...
 in a surprising move on Tuesday, the politicians agreed to pass all three bills, ending months of disputes.

One of the bills seeks the return of properties to their original Kurdish and Turkmen owners. The land was taken from them and given to Arab settlers by the Baathist Revolutionary Command Council decades ago.

"The Iraqi parliament took a big step to dissolve the decisions that were made to occupy Kurdish and Turkmen lands 20 years after being saved from the previous regime and after 50 years of occupation, " Shakhawan Abdullah, deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament said at the parliament building while surrounded by fellow Kurdish politicians from rival parties.

Abdullah thanked the Kurdish blocs for their "unified stance" and attributed the bill’s passing to "vigilance and continuous efforts."

The disputed and diverse areas, particularly oil-rich Kirkuk,
... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time...
 have long been a flashpoint between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the federal government. Under the Baath regime in the 1970s, Kurdish and Turkmen lands were confiscated and given to resettled Arabs. After the US toppled Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, Iraq's constitutionally mandated de-Arabization policy under Article 140 aimed to reverse these demographic changes. In July 2023, the Council of Ministers approved a draft law to revoke Baath-era land confiscations.

"I would like to congratulate the Iraqi parliament presidency and the Kurdish factions and all those who played a role in the passage and approval of this bill," Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani said in a statement.

"I hope this will be the beginning of correcting all the mistakes and falsehoods that have been committed against the interests of Iraqi citizens throughout the history of the Iraqi state," Barzani added.

The general amnesty bill seeks to amend the 2016 law’s definition of affiliation with terrorist organizations, a key Sunni demand for joining the ruling State Administration Coalition. Sunnis argue that thousands from their community have been unjustly imprisoned in Shiite-dominated Iraq since 2003 over alleged terror links.

"A decision was made to pass the general amnesty bill which is a very important decision at this stage and a positive message to the component that feels oppression due to the security situation around the country," Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said in a statement.

Mashhadani, who is a Sunni, added that the process was accelerated thanks to cooperation with Kurdish and Shiite "brothers."

He said the law applies to all Iraqis but has benefited some groups more than others, not just the Sunni component.

The 1959 Personal Status Law governs marriage, divorce, and inheritance. The amendment, introduced by independent politician Raed al-Maliki and widely supported by Shiite politicians, allows religious rules to dictate personal status matters. The proposed changes faced strong opposition, with over 130 politicians signing a petition against it and activists warning it could legitimize child marriage and erode legal protections for women.

sThe proposed bill states that for Shiites, the Jaafari school of law would apply, which allows marriage for girls as young as nine and boys at fifteen.

"This [false or heretic] innovation is alien to the principles of legislation and serves the agenda of the politicians to achieve their narrow interests in a way that increases the division of society and threatens its security and stability in these difficult circumstances," Shiite politician Haider al-Salami said in a statement on Facebook.
Regnum expands on that last item, courtesy of badanov:
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[Regnum] On January 21, the Iraqi parliament adopted amendments to the personal status law, effectively allowing marriage to girls aged nine and older. This was reported by the CNN television channel.

The changes would expand the powers of Islamic courts in family matters, including marriage and divorce. The country's law sets 18 as the minimum age for marriage. But the amendments would give clerics the ability to make decisions based on their interpretation of Islamic law. Some argue that it would be acceptable for girls to marry in their "early teens." However, the Ja'fari school of Islamic law, which is revered by some religious authorities in Iraq, suggests nine years as the minimum.

Activists say the changes undermine the country's 1959 Personal Status Law, which unifies family law and provides guarantees for women. Supporters of the changes say the law has been brought "in line with Islamic principles" to reduce the influence of Western culture on Iraqi culture.

The article notes that half of the legislators present at the session did not vote, which violated the legal quorum. Some parliamentarians shouted protests, and some even went up to the podium.

As reported by the Regnum news agency, investigators in the Moscow region opened a criminal case against a 39-year-old Syrian for sexual intercourse with a minor. The couple registered their marriage in Aleppo, Syria, back in 2022, when the bride was only 14 years old. After some time, the husband moved her to Russia. The laws of the Syrian Arab Republic allow such early unions, but in the Russian Federation, the couple attracted the attention of law enforcement officers. At the same time, the young wife gave birth to her first child at the age of 15 in a perinatal center in the Moscow region. At the moment, she is pregnant again. According to the sanctions of Part 1 of Article 134 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the man may face up to four years in prison.

The editor-in-chief of the Regnum news agency, Marina Akhmedova, noted in her Telegram channel that, according to Russian law, the Syrian will probably be released from liability. To do this, it is enough to establish that the person and the crime he committed have ceased to be socially dangerous due to his marriage to the victim. At the same time, she emphasized that the man quite consciously violated the law of the country in which he lived for a long time, and did not even hide it too much. In her opinion, such behavior leads to the breakdown of taboos in people's subconscious, as a result of which foreigners can calmly violate Russian law in their homeland, and "bring the consequences."
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Iraq
Al-Mashhadani falls ill, Coordination Framework and Sadrists Brawl, eventful session adjourned
2022-01-10
[SHAFAQ] The newly elected Parliament adjourned its first session after a brawl between the Sadrist movement and the Coordination Framework amid reports about the Parliament's Elderly Member, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, falling ill. A source told Shafaq News Agency that the Coordination Framework presented a list of 88 MPs appealing for the largest bloc.

"A committee from the General Secretariat of the Council of Representatives was formed to scrutinize the information presented by the Coordination Framework," the source said.

"A brawl erupted between the Coordination Framework and the Sadrist movement," the source added, "the session was adjourned for discussions. The Elderly Member was transferred to the Ebn Sina after feeling ill."


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Iraq
Militants kill police, injure 7 in Iraq
2010-09-22
[Iran Press TV] One Iraqi policeman has been killed at a checkpoint in the north and seven others have been injured in separate militant attacks in the capital, Baghdad.

One police officer was killed on Monday when a group of armed men stormed a police checkpoint in the al-Midan region in central Mosul, the Aswat al-Iraq news agency reported.

Mosul, located 390 kilometers (240 miles) north of Baghdad, is the second largest city in Iraq and is the capital of the northern province of Nineveh.

That same day, a mortar shell targeted the house of former Iraqi Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani inside the heavily fortified Green Zone in central Baghdad, leaving six of his guards wounded.

An employee of the Iraqi culture ministry was also injured that evening by a bomb blast in western Baghdad.
According to a security source, the explosion hit a culture ministry vehicle at 8:30 p.m. local time near al-Mulla Howeish mosque in the al-Jamea neighborhood.
He further added that the blast injured the driver, who was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi army said they arrested six wanted men in two separate operations in the al-Harmat and al-Islah al-Zeraie regions in western Mosul.

An al-Qaeda leader involved in an attack on three judges in Diyala province last month was reportedly arrested in the Baladruz region, southwest of the provincial capital, Baqouba.
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Iraq
6 bodyguards of former speaker wounded in Baghdad
2010-09-21
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Six bodyguards of former parliament’s speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, were wounded Monday when a mortar shell hit his house in Baghdad, an official source said.

“A mortar shell hit the house of former Parliament’s Speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadni, inside the Green Zone in central Baghdad, ” the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

“The attack wounded six bodyguards,” he added, without giving further details.
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Iraq
Iraq Parliament Allows British Troops to Stay
2008-12-24
Iraq's parliament signed off Tuesday night on a security agreement that would allow thousands of British troops and a few hundred soldiers from a handful of other countries to stay in Iraq until next summer.

The approval, which was delayed by recent fights in parliament, paves the way for the Iraqi government to sign a security agreement with Britain that also covers small contingents from Australia, El Salvador, Estonia and Romania. Those troops will be authorized to stay in Iraq until July 2009, and their departure will mark the end of the so-called "coalition of the willing."

In an unrelated development shortly after the security agreement was reached, the speaker of Iraq's parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, announced his resignation, bowing to Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers who have called for his ouster. In announcing his resignation, Mashhadani acknowledged that he often lost his temper and said his frazzled state of mind is the product of having spent years in prison before the war began. "If I harmed you, I want you to know that I love you and I hope you forgive me," the gray-haired speaker told his colleagues.

Mashhadani, a deeply religious Sunni Muslim Arab who belongs to Ahal al-Iraq, a small party within the Sunni bloc in parliament, has alienated and enraged colleagues -- including fellow Sunnis -- since he became speaker in April 2006. His long-winded speeches often delayed passage of key legislation.

The security agreement with the British government, which dovetails with one signed last month with the United States, was not particularly controversial. But lawmakers did not address it until Tuesday because they had been preoccupied with concerns about Mashhadani.

The non-American foreign troops that remain in Iraq work mostly in training and advisory capacities. British troops were responsible for the security of a large portion of southern Iraq, including Basra, the country's second-largest city, until a few months ago. The U.S. military has begun to deploy more troops there in recent months to fill the void left by the departure of British combat troops.

American troops are expected to leave Iraq by the end of 2011.
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Iraq
MP calls on Mashhadani to resign to avoid dismissal
2008-12-23
Aswat al-Iraq: MP from the Kurdistan Alliance called on Parliament's Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani to resign, threatening that his bloc will agree with the suggestion to sack him if presented in the Parliament. "The Kurdistan Alliance believes that al-Mashhadani became incapable of heading the Parliament because he does not have the necessary leadership skills," Mahmoud Othman told Aswat al-Iraq. "We will vote to sack him if he does not resign," he asserted.

On Wednesday, a heated debate erupted between Mashhadani and members of parliamentary committees over the issue of Iraqi Journalist Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush at a Baghdad-based press conference last week. Mashhadani threatened to resign from the Parliament, while some blocs said they would boycott parliamentary sessions if he retained his post as speaker.
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Iraq
Iraq okays US security pact with majority vote
2008-11-28
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved a landmark security pact with the United States that would pave the way for the US forces to withdraw by the end of 2011, taking the country a big step closer to full sovereignty.
Iraq has full sovereignty today. This is a defense pact.
The deal, which parliament linked after days of fractious negotiations to a series of promised political reforms and a public referendum next year, brings in sight an end to the US military presence that began with the 2003 invasion.

It will make Iraqi police and soldiers increasingly responsible for security after years of bloodshed between majority Shia and Sunni Arabs. "The wishes of different sections of the Iraqi nation have been executed, and this achievement will turn a new page of Iraq's history and will consecrate its sovereignty," said parliament's first deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya. Lawmakers in Iraq's 275-seat parliament passed the deal with a majority of 149 out of 198 present, Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said. It was not immediately clear if the vote constituted enough of a consensus to satisfy the demands of Iraq's influential top Shia cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, who had called for it to be supported by all of the country's communities.

But the deal linking the security pact to other issues, such as the referendum, was agreed between the country's ruling Shia-led coalition, its Kurdish partners and two Sunni Arab factions that had been holding up the vote. The other issues agreed on related to speeding up the release of mainly Sunni detainees captured by the United States at the height of the sectarian violence, and working on a balance between the powers of government and security forces. The agreement was opposed to the last by lawmakers loyal to Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. "The referendum is a lie to satisfy some parties with reservations," said one member of the Sadr movement, deputy Aqeel Abdul-Hussein. Under the deal agreed with the outgoing administration of President George W Bush, the US troops will have to pull out of Iraqi cities by the middle of next year and leave the country by the end of 2011.

It replaces an expiring UN mandate. The deal gives Iraq authority over about 150,000 US troops in the country, makes US soldiers liable for some crimes committed when they are off duty, and reins in private security firms. It is expected to boost Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's prestige and stature, by allowing him to continue to call on the US forces to fight violence while at the same time taking credit for arranging their eventual withdrawal.
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Iraq
Iraq votes on SOFA Wednesday
2008-11-23
Iraq's parliament will vote Wednesday on a security pact with the US that would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years.

Mashhadani says chances that the deal will pass are "50-50.''
Parliament Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani made the announcement on Saturday at the end of a seven-hour debate on the agreement in which at least 40 lawmakers spoke. He said the vote could even be held earlier than Wednesday if the country's main political groups reached agreement on the deal.

Al-Mashhadani, a Sunni Arab who supports the pact, said chances that the deal will pass are "50-50.'' "We support the agreement because it is the least bad alternative," he said.

Some other Sunni politicians are calling to put the pact to a referendum.

The 85-member United Iraqi Alliance, which is the biggest Shia parliamentary group, expressed its support for the pact through Hadi al-Ameiri. "It is not the ideal choice but it is the best choice because at least it sets a timetable for the departure of American troops," he said.

30 MPs of the Shia Sadrist bloc, have opposed the deal from the start. Thousands of Sadrist supporters gathered in Baghdad on Friday to protest against the security agreement. "The deal was written by American hands and the government has been obliged to sign it. It damages Iraq's sovereignty," Nassir al-Isawi said.

To be approved the Status Of Forces Agreement or SOFA, needs 138 votes from the 275 MPs.

Meanwhile, Defense Minister Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, said the deal was necessary because the premature departure of US troops would cause serious security threats. "The alternative is much worse than the agreement,'' he said, referring to an expiring UN mandate, under which the US forces are operating in Iraq. The mandate expires on December 31 2008.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose government negotiated the deal over the past several months, has said he wanted the deal approved by consensus, and the country's most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has indicated that the deal would be acceptable only if it wins passage in the legislature by a big majority.
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Iraq
Iraqi parliament fails to agree on elections law - Adjourns till September
2008-08-06
BAGHDAD - Iraqi lawmakers adjourned for the month Wednesday after failing to agree on a provincial election law, casting doubt on whether U.S.-backed balloting can be held in the country's 18 provinces this year.

The development is a setback to U.S. hopes for reconciliation among rival communities despite the decline in violence. It comes after days of intense negotiations and heavy pressure from U.S. and U.N. officials.

Parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said the lawmakers will resume sessions on Sept. 9 but that he also has ordered a committee to continue negotiations over the provincial elections law.

The legislature also adopted a supplementary budget of $21 billion.

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Iraq
Iraqi foreign minister urges deal with US
2008-07-02
AP: Iraq's foreign minister told lawmakers Tuesday the U.S. made major concessions in talks on a new security agreement, urging them to approve the deal to keep U.S. troops here after the U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari briefed lawmakers following his visit last month to Washington, where he met with President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. His meetings in Washington focused on the ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and Iraq on the security agreement and a separate set of rules governing the actions of American soldiers.

Many Iraqi lawmakers have complained that the U.S. demands would infringe on Iraqi sovereignty, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said last month that the talks had reached an impasse.

But Zebari told the legislators that the Americans had made 'great concessions to us,' including an end to immunity from prosecution under Iraqi law enjoyed by American and other foreign security contractors. He also said the U.S. was prepared to give up control of Iraqi air space if the Iraqis guarantee that they could protect the country's skies with their limited air force.
Said it with a straight face, too!
Zebari, a Kurd, said the rules governing U.S. troops would last for only one or two years while the separate security agreement would be long-term.
Just long enough to wipe Iran off the map.
That appeared aimed as satisfying demands of key Shiite and Sunni legislators who had insisted that any agreement contain language that pointed to an eventual U.S. withdrawal.

U.S. officials have declined to discuss details of the negotiations but have expressed hope that they can wrap them up by the end of this month. The Iraqi parliament must sign off on the deal. Zebari said that if the negotiations fail, the only option would be to ask the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate, and he encouraged legislators to sign off on the final version.

It was unclear how many lawmakers were convinced by Zebari's comments. But the parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, joked that the Kurds 'are obviously for the agreement' and that the Sunnis and the Shiites secretly support it.

That would leave only Shiite followers of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as opponents 'even if the agreement is for the benefit of Iraq,' said al-Mashhadani, a Sunni.

If the negotiations finish this month, it is unlikely parliament would begin debate until it reconvenes in August from a one-month summer recess.

Parliament must also approve a new law providing for provincial elections, which are expected by October. But the U.N, envoy to Iraq, Staffan di Mistura, told parliament leaders Tuesday that there is no time to organize an election by October. He said that if the enabling legislation is not approved by the end of the month, it is unlikely an election could even be held this year.

Provincial elections are considered an important step toward bringing Sunni Arabs into the political process. Many Sunnis boycotted the last provincial election in January 2005, a move that enabled Shiites and Kurds to win a disproportionate share of power. U.S. officials have been pressing the Iraqis to take advantage of the reduction in violence to enact power-sharing agreements that would cement the security gains since early last year.

Despite improvements, deadly attacks continue.
Almost forgot this was the AP, didn't you!
Police said a truck bomb exploded Tuesday near the home of a Sunni sheik in Qayarra, about 45 miles south of Mosul, killing one person and wounding 25, including the sheik. The blast destroyed three houses and damaged seven others, police said. Police Brig. Gen. Brig. Gen. Khalid Abdul-Sattar said the sheik, Abdul-Razaq al-Waqaa, was among local community leaders who had turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.

Extremists also killed seven people in a series of attacks Tuesday in Iraq's eastern Diyala province. Local officials fear al-Qaida militants are returning to the province to escape pressure from U.S. and Iraqi forces in the Mosul area.
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Iraq
Coalition jets drop bombs in Basra
2008-03-29
Coalition jets dropped bombs overnight in Basra for the first time since clashes between Shiite militias and Iraqi security forces erupted in the southern oil port this week, British officials said Friday.

Shiite militants also clashed with government forces for a fourth day in Iraq's oil-rich south and sporadic fighting broke out in Baghdad, despite a weekend curfew in the capital.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has promised "no retreat" in the fight against militias in Basra despite growing anger among followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and his Mahdi Army.

The crackdown has intensified Sadrist anger over recent raids and detentions. They say US and Iraqi forces have taken advantage of their 7-month-old cease-fire to target the movement.

Al-Sadr on Thursday called for a political solution to the burgeoning crisis and an end to the "shedding of Iraqi blood." But the statement, released by a close aide, stopped short of ordering his Mahdi Army militia to halt attacks.

The situation in Basra remained tense after the Iraqis asked for airstrikes on at least two locations, a local British official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

A British defense official in London who also declined to be identified in line with department policy, however, said US fighter jets dropped the bombs while British planes provided air support.

Iraqis have been in control of security in Basra since the British withdrew last December but Britain maintains troops there to provide assistance when needed.

In Baghdad, a US helicopter also fired a Hellfire missile during fighting in the Baghdad's militia stronghold of Sadr City early Friday, killing four gunmen, military spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover said.

Ground forces called for the airstrike after coming under small-arms fire while clearing a main supply route at 4:10 a.m., he added.

Iraqi police and hospital officials in Sadr City said five civilians were killed and four others wounded in the attack.

The strikes underscore the risks that the US and its allies in Iraq could be drawn into an internal Shiite conflict that has threatened to unravel al-Sadr's cease-fire and spark a new cycle of violence after months of relative calm.

In political developments, the main Shiite bloc in parliament said it would not attend an emergency session called for Friday to find ways to end fighting between government forces and militiamen in southern Iraq.

Deputy parliamentary speaker Khalid al-Attiyah, also a member of the United Iraqi Alliance, said the events in the south are a law and order issue, not legislative.

The bloc has been in contact with its Kurdish allies for them to boycott Friday's session too, which would prevent a quorum, he said.

It was not immediately clear whether house speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, would still attempt to convene a session.

Amid the crisis, the prime minister has decided to skip this weekend's Arab summit, officials said. Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi will attend the meeting in Syria instead, according to Laith Shobar, an adviser to the Shiite vice president.

The campaign to rid Basra, Iraq's second-largest city, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, of lawless gangs and Shiite militias _ some believed tied to nearby Iran _ is a major test for the Shiite leader and for the Iraqi military.

The ability of Iraqi leaders and security forces to control situations like this one is key to US hopes of withdrawing its forces from the country.

The prime minister put his credibility on the line by flying down to Basra on Monday and issuing a weekend deadline for the surrender of Mahdi Army militiamen loyal to al-Sadr.

But the Basra offensive has faced fierce resistance and the security operation has triggered a violent response among al-Sadr's followers in Baghdad and cities throughout the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq.

At least 12 militia fighters were killed and seven others wounded in fighting in Mahmoudiya, according to an Iraqi army official.

The local office of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, meanwhile, claimed 15 Iraqi soldiers had been captured, including two officers, in the city, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of the capital.

Fierce fighting in the Mahdi Army stronghold of Nasiriyah has also killed at least four people, including two policemen and two civilians, and wounded 14, an officer said, adding that the clashes had spread to other parts of the city.

Two Iraqi security forces also were killed and three wounded in Kut, police said.

The security officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.

Rockets or mortars also were lobbed at a US facility in the southern city of Hillah, although no casualties were reported, the military said.

Al-Maliki's office also announced Friday that it has given residents in Basra until April 8 to turn over "heavy and medium-size weapons" in return for unspecified monetary compensation.

The deadline is separate from the three-day ultimatum for gunmen to surrender their arms and renounce violence or face harsher measures, which expires later Friday, government adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi said.

The move instead appeared to be aimed at noncombatants who may have weapons like machine-guns and grenade launchers either for smuggling purposes or to sell to militants or criminal gangs.

The government also announced a days-old curfew in Basra would be loosened to allow people to move around in the city from 6am to 6pm to facilitate shopping and other necessary tasks. It called on local agencies to use the time to help residents, who have complained of food shortages and other problems amid the chaos.

Despite the order, an Associated Press staffer said he and his family were fired upon by Iraqi security forces when they tried to leave their house.

Sporadic fighting was reported in predominantly Shiite areas in eastern Baghdad despite a curfew banning unauthorized movement in the capital was imposed from 11pm Thursday to 5am Sunday.
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Iraq
Iraqi lawmakers pass 3 key new laws
2008-02-13
Iraq's parliament on Wednesday passed three key pieces of legislation that set a date for provincial elections, allot $48 billion for 2008 spending, and provide limited amnesty to detainees in Iraqi custody. The three measures were bundled together for one vote to satisfy the demands of minority Kurds who feared they might be double-crossed on their stand that the budget allot 17 percent to their semiautonomous regional government in the north.

The vote came a day after the Sunni speaker of the fragmented parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, threatened to disband the legislature, saying it was so riddled with distrust it appeared unable to adopt legislation. Following the session, which capped weeks of wrangling over the budget and other issues, the parliament began a five-week holiday.

The draft law on provincial elections, which includes a detailed outline on devolving power to the provinces, initially had said voting would begin Oct. 1. Other details on that law and the amnesty were not immediately known.

The measures still must be approved by the three-member presidency council.

The Bush administration and Congress have sought passage of a provincial powers law as one of 18 benchmarks to promote reconciliation among Iraq's Sunni and Shiite Arab communities and the large Kurdish minority.

It is only the second of the so-called benchmarks to make it through parliament. A measure that allows lower-ranking members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party to reclaim government jobs became law earlier this year, but Sunnis have demanded amendments and the future of the measure is unclear.

Other proposals, including divvying up the country's vast oil wealth and amending the constitution, also remain stalled.

The disarray has threatened to undermine the purpose of last year's U.S. troop buildup — to bring down violence and allow the Iraqi government and parliament to focus on reconciliation. Violence is down dramatically, but political progress languishes.

Still, the U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker congratulated the lawmakers and said it was a victory for the Iraqi people. "These are difficult issues. They required a lot of effort, a lot of compromise, but they are important steps forward," he said at a news conference shortly after the vote.

The last time Iraqis voted for local officials was January 2005, when nationwide elections ushered in representational government for the first time in modern history. But many Sunni Arabs boycotted the polls, giving Iraq's majority Shiites and minority Kurds the bulk of power. The U.S. hopes the new elections will empower the Sunni minority and blunt support for the insurgency.

The passage of the laws came after weeks parliamentary infighting centered mainly on the Kurdish demand to maintain 17 percent of the budget despite calls by some Sunni and Shiite lawmakers to lower it to about 14 percent.

Shiite lawmakers walked out of a rare night session Tuesday when the Kurds refused to drop their demand to lump the budget vote together with two other contested measures. The Kurds said they feared being double-crossed on the budget if parliamentarians voted on the laws separately and lawmakers decried what they called "a crisis of trust." The breakthrough apparently came when the lawmakers present approved an item in the budget that gave the Kurds 17 percent on condition that the government hold a census before the end of this year and reconsider the percentage accordingly for the 2009 budget, officials said.

The Sadrist bloc, which holds 30 seats of the 275-member parliament, walked out in protest but returned during for the debate over the provincial elections law and the blanket vote.

Underscoring the narrow victory, the provincial elections law passed only after the parliamentary speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a member of the minority Sunni faction, raised his hand to break a tie after 82 lawmakers cast their votes in favor and 82 against.

Critics complained the blanket vote violated the constitution. "This is a clear evidence that this parliament is unable to offer anything to the Iraqi people and we demand the parliament be disbanded and the United Nations take over," said one of Iraq's most prominent Sunni politicians, Saleh al-Mutlaq.

Osama al-Nujaifi, a Sunni lawmaker with the secular Iraqi List, complained the Kurds did not merit 17 percent of the federal budget. "This is a clear violation of the rights of the Iraqi people," he said.
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