AFP - Fractious Iraqi MPs returned to parliament Tuesday to grapple with a compromise hammered out by political leaders on a key election law, amid concern that polls set for January may be delayed.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, President Jalal Talabani, parliament speaker Iyad al-Samarrai and other leaders drafted a new text late Monday that they will present to party leaders and senior lawmakers, deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya told AFP.

At issue are proposed changes to the law that would require parties to publish full lists of their candidates, in contrast to the current closed list system whereby voters see only party names.

Another major hurdle has been the lack of agreement over the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which the Kurds have long demanded be incorporated in their autonomous region in the north despite the opposition of its Arab and Turkmen communities.

Some parties are reportedly delaying putting the bill to the vote so they can avoid publicly advocating the closed system but ensure the same result by forcing the government to fall back on the existing legislation.

"An agreement was reached (Monday) on a proposal for the amendment of the election law," said Attiya, a Shiite member of parliament for the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council (SIIC).

"The speaker's office will present the accord to party leaders on Tuesday, and, if there is agreement, the bill will be put to a vote," he said.

Respected independent Kurdish MP Mahmud Othman said the new draft includes a requirement for parties to publish full lists of their candidates.

He said it also provides for a review of voter registration lists in "all the areas where there is doubt over an increase in population, without referring to a province or specific area."

Pressure has been placed on Iraqi MPs to reach agreement on the new law from a wide variety of sources, including US President Barack Obama, the United Nations and Iraqi religious leaders, as well as the prime minister.

The political deadlock threatens the poll as the electoral law is supposed to be in place 90 days before voting takes place.

Constitutionally, the election must be held by January 31. It is currently scheduled for January 16.

A top Iraqi general cautioned that a delay risked increasing instability, in an interview with AFP on Saturday.

"What we are afraid of, if there is any delay to the elections... is this may create problems for security in general," said Lieutenant General Ali Ghaidan Majeed, Iraq's army chief.

His warning came just ahead of massive vehicle bomb attacks Sunday on government buildings in central Baghdad which killed 135 people and wounded around 500. The attacks have been claimed by Al-Qaeda.

Sheikh Abdul Mahdi al-Karbalai, a representative of Iraq's top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, warned at Friday prayers of unease among senior Shiite clergy about the failure to adopt an election law.