AFP - Iraq's parliament failed again on Sunday to break a stalemate over a key election law, raising fears that nationwide polls will have to be delayed beyond a constitutional deadline.

"The vote was delayed until tomorrow (Monday)," the chamber's deputy speaker Khalid al-Attiya told AFP Sunday.

"We will try to clarify things to find a solution. There are proposals" being discussed, the Shiite lawmaker said.

US ambassador to Baghdad Christopher Hill was in parliament on Sunday to try and reconcile contrasting views over the text, which was originally passed on November 8 after several delays.

It ran into problems on Wednesday, however, when Tareq al-Hashemi, a Sunni, and one of the war-torn country's vice-presidents, used his veto to demand a greater say for minorities and Iraqi nationals who fled after Saddam's fall.

Hashemi wants the law to be changed so that representation for minorities and nationals living abroad is tripled from five percent to 15 percent of the 323 seats up for grabs.

Iraq's Sunni community, which was dominant before Saddam was toppled, leading to a takeover by the nation's majority Shiites, puts the number of nationals abroad at around four million.

Shiites say the figure is closer to one million.

Iraq's electoral commission has warned that continued delays over the voting law threaten to leave too little time to complete preparations by the scheduled polling date.

The elections, the second national ballot since Saddam was ousted by a US-led invasion in 2003, must be held by January 31 under Iraq's constitution.