U.S. welcomes Iraq's provincial election law

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The United States on Thursday praised Iraq's presidential council for signing a law that paves the way for provincial elections, which Washington sees as crucial to helping reconcile the nation's factions.

The three-member presidential council ended its objections to signing off on the measure on Wednesday, two days after Vice President Dick Cheney visited Iraq on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the war.

Washington has been putting pressure on Iraq's Shi'ite-led government to take advantage of a drop in violence and make progress on a series of so-called reconciliation benchmarks but many of the laws have been stalled by factional infighting.

"The Provincial Powers Law represents an important step in what is likely to be an ongoing democratic effort to maintain a uniquely Iraqi balance between central government authority and the preservation of local empowerment," the U.S. embassy in Baghdad said in a statement.

The law will define the relationship between Iraq's 18 provinces and the central government and is seen by Iraqi officials as an important first step towards holding provincial elections, due by Oct. 1.

Baghdad and Washington see those polls as a way to draw disenfranchised Iraqis, particularly minority Sunni Arabs who were dominant under Saddam Hussein, into the political process and away from the insurgency and sectarian violence.

The war has cost the United States $500 billion since the U.S.-led invasion to topple Saddam began on March 20, 2003, and is a major issue in November's U.S. presidential election.

Tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed and millions more displaced, with almost 4,000 U.S. soldiers killed.