After months of infighting, Iraq’s parliament passed a crucial law Wednesday that will allow most of the country to hold provincial elections early next year.

The law is seen as a key step toward bringing under-represented groups back into Iraqi politics, particularly Sunnis in Anbar province who have recently turned against violence and al Qaida extremists.

The United States and the United Nations have been urging Iraqi politicians for months to agree on a law, hoping that holding elections soon will help solidify recent, tenuous security gains here.

A contentious debate over who will control Kirkuk , an oil-rich northern city, was the main sticking point delaying an agreement. Legislators didn’t resolve that issue Wednesday and instead set it aside for later.

To become law, Iraq’s three-man presidency council, headed by President Jalal Talabani , a Kurd, must approve the elections measure. Parliament passed an elections law earlier this year that called for power sharing among Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds, which the presidency council quickly rejected.

In a written statement, President Bush praised parliament. “Nothing is more central to a functioning democracy than free and fair elections,” the statement said. “Today’s action demonstrates the ability of Iraq’s leaders to work together for the good of the Iraqi people and represents further progress on political reconciliation.”