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Walkout in Iraq parliament over Sunni leader raid
The National Concord Front, the main Sunni bloc with 44 MPs in the 275-member parliament, walked out of the assembly, saying it would return after Dulaimi himself comes back to the legislature. We announce our boycott of the parliament until Adnan al-Dulaimi returns to the assembly today or tomorrow, the blocs Abdul Karim al-Samarraie told the assembly. When I went to meet him I was stopped and told that he is under house arrest. This is a violation of the rights of an MP who wants to come to the parliament, Samarraie said. After his statement the blocs MPs walked out of the assembly hall. Mahmud al-Mashhadani, the Sunni parliament speaker, joined them. Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied that Dulaimi was under house arrest. What is being said about house arrest is not true. It is only protection given to Dulaimi until the situation is clear, Dabbagh told state television Al-Iraqiya. Political tension has risen sharply following the security crackdown on Dulaimi after the Iraqi army said on Thursday it found car bombs near his Baghdad offices. Dulaimi has been under effective house arrest since Friday, sparking a warning by the National Concord Front earlier on Saturday that Iraqs political process could be derailed. Shiite MP Haider al-Ibadi said the Dulaimi issue should not be discussed in the assembly. There is an investigation and parliament should not interfere in it, he said before the Sunnis walked out. Posted by: Steve White 2007-12-02 |
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