Violence down in Iraq, but politics need help: U.N.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki (R) meets the outgoing German Ambassador to Iraq Hans Schumacher (L) in Baghdad August 6, 2008.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Violence has decreased and security has improved across most of Iraq in the past three months but much progress is needed on the political front, a top U.N. official said on Wednesday.

"Violent incidents and casualties have declined and we have witnessed the improved performance of Iraq security forces during a series of operations," said Lynn Pascoe, U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs.

In a briefing for the U.N. Security Council, Pascoe said that it was necessary to cement security gains with "strengthened and sustained political dialogue" among the country's rival factions.

He said failure to agree on new electoral legislation would mean provincial elections, which are seen as a crucial test of Iraq's democracy, could not go ahead.

In Baghdad, Iraqi lawmakers on Wednesday postponed a vote on the new election law by at least a month, delaying local elections originally scheduled for October 1.

"The U.N. has been doing all it can to urge practical compromises," Pascoe said. "A failure to come to agreement on a law at this time would be a major setback, not only for the prospects of elections this year but for the larger process of national reconciliation in Iraq."

The law to clear the way for provincial elections in Iraq, seen as an important step in strengthening the country's fragile democracy, is being held up by a feud over the oil-rich city of Kirkuk.

A U.N.-backed plan unveiled in negotiations earlier this week had proposed authorizing elections to go ahead across the rest of the country but leave the future of Kirkuk for a separate law to be passed at a later date.

Iraqi Ambassador Hamid al-Bayati told the council a committee of Iraqi parliamentarians has been formed to discuss proposals for resolving the deadlock over Kirkuk elections.

The elections will mark the first time Iraqis vote since the thick of an insurgency three years ago and are seen as a chance to give a greater voice to factions that shunned past elections.

The Security Council is expected to vote on Friday to extend the mandate of the U.N. mission in Iraq, which has vowed to expand the role of the United Nations there.

(Editing by Bill Trott)