Baghdad ? Iraq’s prime minister urged parliament on Saturday to cancel or shorten its summer vacation to pass laws Washington considers crucial to Iraq’s stability and the debate on how long U.S. forces should remain.

A soccer fan waves the Iraqi flag while riding his motor scooter Saturday in central Baghdad after Iraq defeated Vietnam 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup, providing a welcome relief from the daily violence facing Iraqis. Iraq, having snapped a run of three successive exits at the quarterfinal stage, will next play the winner of today's quarterfinal between Iran and South Korea in Kuala Lumpur.

Parliament was scheduled to adjourn for all of August. American officials, however, began pressing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and parliament late last year to pass at least two laws viewed as a way to defuse the sectarian violence crippling Iraq: one on the distribution of oil and another on how to handle former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath party.

Al-Maliki’s office said he discussed parliament’s failure to pass key legislation during a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and presidential adviser Meghan O’Sullivan. There was no immediate report on the meeting from U.S. officials.

A statement by the Shiite prime minister’s office said he “hoped that the parliament would cancel its summer vacation or limit it to (two weeks) to help the government solve the pending issues on top of which (are) the vacant ministerial posts.”

In northeast Baghdad, meanwhile, the U.S. military said it killed six militants in an airstrike on a Shiite stronghold. Iraqi officials and relatives of the victims claimed 18 civilians died in the attack.

The infusion of about 30,000 more American forces, completed last month, was President Bush’s attempt to calm the capital and give parliament and al-Maliki “breathing space” to pass the legislation. But so far nothing of consequence has reached the floor of the legislature and some are predicting the critical oil law might not even be taken up until September.

The oil law, approved by al-Maliki’s Cabinet but not sent to parliament because of major opposition, calls for a fair distribution of the income from Iraq’s massive petroleum resources among Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis.

Sunnis, who make up the bulk of the insurgency, have virtually no known oil reserves in their territories yet still oppose the current draft legislation.

Kurds, who control large reserves in northern Iraq, also oppose the measure because it could loosen their control over a key asset.

Shiites, meanwhile, opposed the measure on former Baath members because it would allow many former members of Saddam’s regime to return to their old jobs.

The former regime heavily oppressed Iraq’s Shiite majority, which has gained political ascendancy since the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam.