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Iraq lawmakers end impasse, election to go ahead

By Waleed Ibrahim Waleed Ibrahim – 2 hrs 16 mins ago

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraqi politicians agreed a last minute deal on Sunday to overcome divisions on a law needed for an election to take place next year, reducing the risks to U.S. plans for a partial withdrawal in 2010.

With 10 minutes till a midnight deadline for one of Iraq's vice presidents to cast a second veto of the law, deputies, badgered by U.S. and U.N. officials, voted unanimously to approve a compromise on the distribution of parliamentary seats.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni Arab, said he accepted the accord, which was voted on in a nail biting session, and that he would run the dates of February 27 or 28 by the electoral authorities to see which would be most suitable.

The three-person presidency council, of which Hashemi is a part, would then set a date.

"I have agreed to withdraw the veto," Hashemi said in a phone call to a television station.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091206/wl_nm/us_iraq_election