BAGHDAD, Sept 24 - Iraq’s parliament unanimously approved a provincial elections law on Wednesday after months of bickering between Arabs and Kurds, and called for the vote to be held before Jan. 31 next year, legislators said.

The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1 but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.