Iraq Sunni blocs boycott parliament over speaker

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Source: Reuters

Iraq's two Sunni Arab political blocs boycotted parliament on Sunday and said they would not return until ousted speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a member of the largest Sunni bloc, was reinstated.

The Sunni Accordance Front holds 44 seats in the 275-member parliament while the Iraqi National Dialogue Front has 11.

"The (Accordance) Front has decided it will not attend the sessions of parliament until the case of Mashhadani is solved in an appropriate way that ensures his return to run the sessions," the bloc said in a statement.

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The boycott will add to tensions in parliament at a time when legislators are under growing pressure from the United States to pass major laws aimed at drawing minority Sunni Arabs more firmly into the political process.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L24625320.htm

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1. Under pressure to pass the OIL bill for Amerika

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2. Iraqi PM urges Sunni bloc to end cabinet boycott

Source: Reuters

Iraqi PM urges Sunni bloc to end cabinet boycott
30 Jun 2007 13:25:07 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Mussab Al-Khairalla

BAGHDAD, June 30 (Reuters) - Iraq's Shi'ite prime minister on
Saturday urged the main Sunni bloc to return to government,
a day after the faction said it would boycott cabinet meetings
because of legal steps against one of its ministers.

The move by the Sunni Accordance Front, which suspended
its membership in parliament a week ago too, is another big
blow to Iraq's faltering efforts to push through laws aimed
at reining in sectarian violence and reconciling majority
Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs.

"I urge ... the leaders of the Accordance Front to cancel
their decision to boycott cabinet meetings and to let the
judicial process solve this problem in the interests of national
reconciliation," a statement from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's
office said.

Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the Shi'ite-led government,
this week told Al-Arabiya television that an arrest warrant
had been issued for Culture Minister Asaad Kamal Hashemi in
relation to a murder investigation.

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Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/KHA035270.htm