Iraq VP threatens to veto vote law over refugees

* Iraqi VP wants guaranteed parliamentary seats for refugees

* Fresh doubt over January election date

BAGHDAD, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Iraq's Sunni Arab vice president threatened on Sunday to veto a new election law unless seats in parliament are allocated to Iraqi refugees, casting fresh uncertainty over the January election.

Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi told parliament the law had to be altered to give a voice to Iraqis abroad. Many of them are members of Iraq's once-dominant Sunni Muslim community who fled after Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003 unleashed a sectarian war.

"Unfortunately this law did not give fair treatment to the large numbers of Iraqi refugees outside Iraq, who were forced to leave their country for reasons beyond their control," Hashemi said in a letter to parliament, adding that he would use his veto power unless the changes were incorporated.

The vice president's veto threat raised doubts about whether Iraq would be able to hold a general election in January.

The electoral authorities need time to prepare for the ballot, expected to take place between Jan. 18-23. The vote is viewed as a major milestone as Iraq emerges from 6-1/2 years of bloodshed and stands on its own feet while U.S. forces withdraw.

The election date had been in question for weeks because of a dispute pitting ethnic Kurds against Arabs and Turkmen on how to conduct the vote in the northern city of Kirkuk, which Kurds claim as their ancestral home.