Iraq’s fractious parliament squeezed its abrasive speaker out of a job and authorized non-US troops to stay for another half-year on Tuesday in a pair of high-stakes moves in its final session of the year.
Under heavy pressure from Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani resigned on the losing end of a long-running power struggle. Lawmakers applauded his announcement, quickly approved it. then passed a measure allowing Britain’s 4,000 troops and several smaller contingents from other countries to stay through July.
“I do believe that I was faithfully doing good work,” he said in his address to the chamber where he often offended other lawmakers. “If I caused hurt to you, I ask your forgiveness.”
Al-Mashhadani has clashed repeatedly with Kurdish and Shiite lawmakers in recent years.
The enmity reached its peak last week in a shouting match over the detention of the journalist who threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush.
Within a half-hour of his resignation, parliament approved the troops measure in a voice vote — just a week before the UN mandate authorizing foreign troops was to expire.
The new measure will allow non-US troops to stay through and assist US troops until the end of July. The Americans can remain until the end of 2011 under a separate security agreement.
The authorization for foreign troops became entangled in al-Mashhadani’s quarrel with Kurdish and Shiite lawmakers last week, when he hurled abuse during a session and threatened to resign. His opponents ultimately forced him to keep his word. In turn, al-Mashhadani tried to delay until Jan. 7 the vote on the foreign troops resolution — a week after next Tuesday’s expiration of the UN mandate.
Meanwhile, Salvadoran President Tony Saca announced on Tuesday he would withdraw Salvadoran troops from Iraq after Dec. 31, pulling out the only remaining soldiers from Latin America.
Five of El Salvador’s soldiers have been killed and more than 20 have been wounded since the country deployed troops there in 2003.
It currently has 200 soldiers based near the southeastern Shiite city of Kut.
Saca said last month that Iraqi President Jalal Talibani had written him a letter asking him to keep Salvadoran troops in Iraq. But he said the Iraqi government never followed up.
Britain has already said it plans to withdraw its 4,000 troops from southern Iraq by the end of May.
Australia, Estonia and Romania also have troops in Iraq.
Meanwhile, Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was due to hold talks yesterday with Ankara on ways to fight Turkish separatist Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.
Maliki was to meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
On Tuesday, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, gave fresh assurances that both Baghdad and the Kurdish administration of northern Iraq were determined to purge the region of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“We, the Iraqi Kurds, will no longer allow armed people from any Kurdish group to use our territory to carry out attacks on Turkey or Iran,” Talabani said in an interview with Turkey’s Aksam daily published yesterday.
“We will take the necessary measures,” he said, adding that Kurdish parties in northern Iraq would soon convene a meeting to issue a joint appeal to the PKK to abandon its armed struggle.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
MILITARY’S MAN: Myint Swe was diagnosed with neurological disorders and peripheral neuropathy disease, and had authorized another to perform his duties Myint Swe, who became Myanmar’s acting president under controversial circumstances after the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than four years ago, died yesterday, the military said. He was 74. He died at a military hospital in the capital, Naypyidaw, in the morning, Myanmar’s military information office said in a statement. Myint Swe’s death came more than a year after he stopped carrying out his presidential duties after he was publicly reported to be ailing. His funeral is to be held at the state level, but the date had not been disclosed, a separate statement from the
RSS