Around the World
By
Angus Shaw
· Wednesday, March 19,2008 11:48 p.m.
Iraq’s presidential council approved a law Wednesday that paves the way for provincial elections, giving a major boost to U.S.-backed efforts to promote national reconciliation on the fifth anniversary of the war. The move came two days after Vice President Dick Cheney visited Baghdad to press Iraqi leaders to overcome their differences and take advantage of a lull in violence to make political progress. Many Sunnis boycotted the January 2005 election in which Iraqis chose a parliament and provincial councils. The vote ushered in representational government, but it also gave majority Shiites and minority Kurds the bulk of power, including at the provincial level.
