Iraq VP rejects election law

---

BAGHDAD, Nov 18 (washington post): Iraq's vice president vetoed on Wednesday legislation to organize the country's parliamentary elections in January, throwing the law back to a Parliament that had haggled for months before finally passing it last week.
The veto by Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi was the latest wrinkle in growing criticism over the law by the country's biggest minorities - Sunni Arabs and Kurds - both of whom are effectively demanding the allocation of more seats in the next parliament, which is almost assured of having a Shiite Muslim majority.
On Tuesday, Kurdish officials threatened to boycott the vote in the three provinces they control in northern Iraq unless they were granted a greater share of seats. Hashimi, one of three members of the presidency council, Iraq's executive branch, said Wednesday that he was forced to veto the law because it gave too little representation to the millions of Iraqis forced into exile since 2003. Having sought refuge in Syria, Jordan and elsewhere, they are predominantly Sunni Arabs.