Iraqis Pass 3 Key Bills, Pleasing All Parties

U.S. officials applauded the passage of the laws, declaring that Iraq was finally reaping political benefits from a downturn in violence under the U.S. offensive that began a year ago.

"The passage of the three laws today showed that the Iraqi leaders are now taking advantage of the opportunity that coalition and Iraqi troopers fought so hard to provide," Gen. David H. Petraeus said in an interview.

The vote came a day after Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the Sunni speaker of parliament, threatened to disband the legislature, contending that it was unable to adopt new laws because of the intense mistrust among the parties.

Othman, the independent Kurdish legislator, said it remains to be seen whether Iraq's divisive political parties can put the new laws into effect. "If the blocs don't get together, implementing them will be difficult," he said.

In the southern city of Basra, kidnappers freed an Iraqi interpreter for CBS News, but the British journalist seized with him was still being held captive.

Harith al-Ethari, a senior leader in Basra for Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, said negotiations were underway to free the journalist. A group of 20 armed men wearing the uniforms of Iraqi security forces abducted the pair from the Qasr Sultan hotel on Sunday. Ethari denied that Sadr's followers were involved in the kidnappings.

Correspondent Amit R. Paley and special correspondent Naseer Nouri contributed to this report.