Iraqi lawmakers adjourned in protest and demanded an apology after a Shiite legislator linked to a radical anti-American cleric tearfully said he was handcuffed and humiliated at a US checkpoint.
It was the third consecutive day that Iraq's interim parliament was sidetracked from its job of setting up a government and writing a constitution.
Beyond the sandbags and blast walls of the US-protected Green Zone, where the National Assembly meets, at least a dozen Iraqis were killed and more than 60 wounded on Tuesday in a series of attacks, including two that targeted the army and its recruits.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the nation's most feared terrorist group, claimed responsibility for the worst attack, a suicide bombing near an army recruitment center in Baghdad that police said killed at least six Iraqis and wounded 44.
A car bomb in western Baghdad targeting a US patrol wounded seven Iraqis, police and hospital officials said.
Laith Abdullah, the husband of a woman injured in the attack, angrily criticized the legislature for worrying more about its rights than the violence.
"The government should be concerned about all the people getting hurt," Abdullah said.
But in the National Assembly, lawmaker Fattah al-Sheik stood and cried as he described being stopped at a checkpoint on the way to work on Tuesday. He claimed an US soldier kicked his car, mocked the legislature, handcuffed him and held him by the neck.
"What happened to me represents an insult to the whole National Assembly that was elected by the Iraqi people. This shows that the democracy we are enjoying is fake," al-Sheik said.
"Through such incidents, the US Army tries to show that it is the real controlling power in the country, not the new Iraqi government," he said.
Al-Sheik's small party has been linked to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who led uprisings against the US-led coalition last year. On his way home after the session, gunmen fired on al-Sheik's convoy, but he escaped unharmed, police and his party said.
The US military said its initial investigation indicated that in the morning, al-Sheik got into an altercation with a coalition translator at the checkpoint. US soldiers tried to separate them and "briefly held on to the legislator," while preventing another member of al-Sheik's party from getting out of his vehicle, a military statement said.
"We have the highest respect for all members of the Transitional National Assembly. Their safety and security is critically important," US Brigadier General Karl Horst said in the statement. "We regret this incident occurred and are conducting a thorough investigation."
During a one-hour adjournment to protest al-Sheik's treatment, lawmaker Salam al-Maliki read an assembly statement demanding an apology from the US Embassy and the prosecution of the soldier who allegedly mistreated the legislator.
Hajim al-Hassani, the parliament speaker, said: "We reject any sign of disrespect directed at lawmakers."
Each day this week, the legislature's opening session on current affairs has extended well beyond the scheduled 30 minutes. Legislators have discussed traffic jams in Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's alleged war crimes, claims that hostages were being held south of Baghdad and al-Sheik's complaint.
Coffee breaks, lunch and lengthy debates over issues such as how long each legislator should be allowed to speak have taken up the rest of the day.
Tuesday's attacks followed an Iraqi security operation in Madain, a town south of Baghdad where Sunni insurgents were believed to be holding Shiite hostages. No captives were found.
Also on Tuesday, insurgents opened fire on Iraqi soldiers in Khaldiyah town, 100km west of Baghdad, killing four and wounding seven. And in the capital, masked men shot and killed professor Fuad Ibrahim Mohamed al-Bayati as he left home for the University of Baghdad, police said.
One Iraqi civilian was killed in a roadside bombing in the Iskandariyah area, about 50km south of Baghdad.
A ship that appears to be taking on the identity of a scrapped gas carrier exited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, showing how strategies to get through the waterway are evolving as the Middle East war progresses. The vessel identifying as liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Jamal left the Strait on Friday morning, ship-tracking data show. However, the same tanker was also recorded as having beached at an Indian demolition yard in October last year, where it is being broken up, according to market participants and port agent’s reports. The ship claiming to be Jamal is likely a zombie vessel that
Japan is to downgrade its description of ties with China from “one of its most important” in an annual diplomatic report, according to a draft reviewed by Reuters, as relations with Beijing worsen. This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook, which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s government is expected to approve next month, would instead describe China as an important neighbor and the relationship as “strategic” and “mutually beneficial.” The draft cites a series of confrontations with Beijing over the past year, including export controls on rare earths, radar lock-ons targeting Japanese military aircraft and increased pressure around Taiwan. The shift in tone underscores a deterioration
LAW CONSTRAINTS: The US has been pressing allies to send warships to open the Strait, but Tokyo’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz if a ceasefire is reached in the war on Iran, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi said yesterday. “If there were to be a complete ceasefire, hypothetically speaking, then things like minesweeping could come up,” Motegi said. “This is purely hypothetical, but if a ceasefire were established and naval mines were creating an obstacle, then I think that would be something to consider.” Japan’s military actions are limited under its postwar pacifist constitution, but 2015 security legislation allows Tokyo to use its Self-Defense Forces overseas if an attack,
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) yesterday faced a regional election battle in Rhineland-Palatinate, now held by the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). Merz’s CDU has enjoyed a narrow poll lead over the SPD — their coalition partners at the national level — who have ruled the mid-sized state for 35 years. Polling third is the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which spells a greater threat to the two centrist parties in several state elections in September in the country’s ex-communist east. The picturesque state of Rhineland-Palatinate, bordering France, Belgium and Luxembourg and with a population of about 4 million,
RSS