IMPEACH BUSH

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House said Friday that Iraq's parliament may take the month of August off but downplayed the impact on political reconciliation efforts seen as key to quelling deadly violence.

"My understanding is at this juncture they're going to take August off, but you know, they may change their minds," said spokesman Tony Snow, who refused to say whether there had been US efforts to dissuade them.

"You know, it's 130 degrees (54 Celsius) in Baghdad in August. I'll pass on your recommendation," he said when a reporter asked about the impact on an Iraq progress report due by September 15.

Reminded that the heat affected the roughly 160,000 US troops in Iraq, Snow replied: "You know, that's a good point. And it's 130 degrees for the Iraqi military."

Asked whether the United States had made any renewed efforts to convince them not to go on vacation, he replied: "I'm not in a position, at this point, to try to gainsay what the Iraqis are doing.

"We are working with them and trying to help them succeed," he said.

Vice President Dick Cheney and the US ambassador, Ryan Crocker, have tried to convince the Iraqi parliament not to take such a long break at a time when US soldiers are fighting and dying and US support for the war is at a low ebb.