Iraq local election talks break down

BAGHDAD, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Parliamentary talks on local election laws and resolving the political crisis in the volatile Iraqi region of Kirkuk have broken down, sources said.

Masoud Barazani, president of Iraq's independent Kurdistan region, returned to its capital late Monday, leaving the Baghdad negotiations without an agreement on how to proceed with local elections. The elections will determine how power will be divided between Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen in the oil-rich northern province, KUNA, the Kuwait news agency, reported.

The Kirkuk crisis and several other thorny issues having to do with local elections, seen by the United States as crucial for bringing representation to Sunni Arabs and other Iraqi minorities, have produced "deep divides" in Parliament where talks have gone back to "square one," sources told KUNA.

An extraordinary session of the Iraqi parliament was scheduled for Tuesday. Speaker Mahmoud Al-Meshedani said an agreement on local elections was near, but sources told KUNA it was more likely a vote on the law would be delayed amid ongoing U.N. efforts to help reach a solution in Kirkuk.