[Excerpt: The bickering exposed tensions in the newly formed parliament, with Allawi storming out of the session, followed by interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab who turned down the speaker's job....Once it began after a three-hour delay, however, lawmakers immediately began arguing over whether to delay their decision, and the leader of the session decided to kick reporters and cameras out and close the meeting to the public...."We demand to know the details of what's happening behind the scenes!" one woman shouted before the live television feed of the gathering went blank.]
Iraq Lawmakers Fail to Agree on Speaker http://199.181.132.144/International/wireStory?id=622339 BAGHDAD, Iraq Mar 29, 2005 � Iraq's fledgling parliament failed Tuesday to agree on who would be its speaker, with the interim prime minister and president storming out of the chaotic session that exposed deep divides among the National Assembly's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish members. The short session mostly held behind closed doors after leaders kicked out reporters and cut off a live television feed adjourned until this weekend. Hussein al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric and member of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's coalition, said the parliament speaker likely would be chosen Sunday, giving Sunni Arab lawmakers time to come up with a candidate. "We saw that things were confused today, so we gave them a last chance," al-Sadr said. "We expect the Sunni Arab brothers to nominate their candidate. Otherwise, we will vote on a candidate on Sunday." Nearly two months after Iraq's historic Jan. 30 elections, negotiations to form a new government have stalled over Cabinet posts and how to include the fragile nation's Sunni minority dominant under former dictator Saddam Hussein and believed to make up the core of the ongoing insurgency. The bickering exposed tensions in the newly formed parliament, with Allawi storming out of the session, followed by interim President Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab who turned down the speaker's job. "What are we going to tell the citizens who sacrificed their lives and cast ballots on Jan. 30?" al-Sadr said earlier. Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni representatives were trying to come up with a Sunni Arab candidate that legislators promised would be announced during Tuesday's session. Once it began after a three-hour delay, however, lawmakers immediately began arguing over whether to delay their decision, and the leader of the session decided to kick reporters and cameras out and close the meeting to the public. "We demand to know the details of what's happening behind the scenes!" one woman shouted before the live television feed of the gathering went blank. enditem ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
