The head of Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission warned that Thursday is the deadline for parliament to adopt an electoral law if January's general election is to be held on time.

"The electoral commission held talks with the United Nations on Tuesday to discuss the timetable," IHEC chief Faraj al-Haidari told the private Al-Sharqiya television channel.

"We must receive the law in the next two days, otherwise we will be unable to hold the election on the scheduled date of January 16," he said.

"There is material relating to the election, and international companies need time to print it. Fifteen thousand polling stations have to be made ready for the election, as do 50,000 personnel."

The electoral law is supposed to be in place 90 days before voting takes place. Constitutionally, the election must be held by January 31.

MPs are deadlocked over the status of the oil-rich northern province of Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed region along the border with autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.

Kirkuk's majority Kurds have long demanded incorporation into the autonomous region, arousing fierce opposition from the province's Arabs and Turkmen.

"The next two days are crucial," Haidari said. "If the new electoral law is not adopted or if the amendments to the old law are not voted through, that means it will be impossible to hold the election on January 16."

Parliament has already held several sessions to discuss the bill, but without a vote.

The issue remains deadlocked despite intense lobbying from the United Nations and the United States, as well as pressure from Iraqi religious leaders and Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

earlier related report

Kuwait MPs order probe into proposed arms deals

Kuwait's parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to ask the Audit Bureau to probe three planned arms deals with the United States and France that one lawmaker said are worth billions of dollars.

The decision, requested by 32 MPs and not opposed by cabinet ministers present at the parliamentary session, calls on the independent Audit Bureau to investigate whether the acts were "in line with Kuwaiti laws."

The contracts concern the planned purchase of an unspecified number of US Hercules transport aircraft, an ammunition factory and up to 28 French-made Rafale warplanes.

Islamist MP Jamaan al-Harbash alleged that Defence Minister Sheikh Jaber al-Mubarak al-Sabah, who did not attend the session, has kept parliament in the dark regarding these arms deals.

He said that the minister has refused to answer his questions about the three deals, which are "worth billions of dollars."

Some opposition MPs have claimed the value of the possible deals was inflated.

No details were provided in parliament about the deals or their value.

Last month, Kuwait and France signed a new defence agreement in Paris and discussed details about a possible sale of Rafale war planes.

Sheikh Jaber said after talks in Paris that Kuwait would be "proud" to have the supersonic Rafale jet for its armed forces at some point in the future.

He said he had given the Rafale the green light and passed the matter to technical teams for detailed scrutiny.

"We hope to get the Rafale for our air force," he said, without saying how many planes Kuwait might acquire.

During a Gulf tour in February, Sarkozy said discussions had begun with Kuwait for the sale of between 14 and 28 of the Dassault-made fighters.

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