AFP
The United States voiced disappointment on Wednesday with the veto in Baghdad of a law governing Iraq's January election and urged Iraqi leaders to clear up concerns in order for polls to go ahead.
"We are disappointed at these developments related to (the) elections law," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.
"We urge Iraqi leaders and parliament to take quick action to (resolve) any outstanding concerns that have been expressed and this is so elections can go forward," he added.
In Baghdad, the war-torn nation's electoral commission said it was stopping work at least for the time being, meaning that the ballot, the second national poll since the 2003 fall of dictator Saddam Hussein, was likely to be delayed.
Washington has already warned that further hold-ups could derail a scheduled withdrawal of combat troops by August next year, ahead of a complete military exit in 2011.
Iraq's presidential council, composed of President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and two vice presidents, one Sunni and one Shi'ite, has demanded a greater say in the election for minorities and for nationals living abroad.
The insistence on securing the relevant change in the law governing the vote led Tareq al-Hashemi, the Sunni vice-president, to veto the legislation.
