Sunni lawmakers ended their five-week boycott of Parliament on Thursday, raising hopes the factious Assembly can make progress on benchmark legislation demanded by Washington. Meanwhile, the United States announced that two American soldiers have been charged with killing an Iraqi.
Also on Thursday, the US command announced the deaths of five American soldiers. Four soldiers and their Iraqi interpreter were killed on Wednesday in a roadside bombing in east Baghdad and one soldier was killed on Friday by small-arms fire near Rusdi Mulla, just to the south-west of the city.
In Parliament, the 44 members of the Iraqi Accordance Front attended Thursday’s session after striking a deal with other blocs to reinstate the Sunni Speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, who was ousted by the Shi’ite-dominated Assembly last month for erratic behaviour.
Al-Mashhadani is expected to resign gracefully after presiding over a number of sessions. Shi’ite legislator Hassan al-Suneid, an aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, said al-Mashhadani’s return came after secret conditions that should not be made public.
However, one official said al-Mashhadani has until Wednesday to step down or Parliament will force him out. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
”We all have to work together to rescue Iraq from the catastrophe which has befallen it,” Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi told Parliament. ”This is the first step in solving the Iraqi problem and in stopping the bloodshed.”
The Sunnis ended their walkout two days after Shi’ite lawmakers loyal to anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr ended their boycott after officials accepted their demands for rebuilding a Shi’ite shrine damaged by bombings.
Those two boycotts had paralysed the 275-member Parliament, which is under strong criticism from US critics for failing to approve key legislation and for plans to take a month’s vacation in August at a time when American and Iraqi troops are dying on the battlefield.
The sensitivities displayed by both the Accordance Front and al-Sadr’s allies indicate the depth of suspicion and sectarian rivalry prevalent in Iraq after more than four years of war.
Relieved of command
On Thursday, the US military said an army lieutenant colonel has been relieved of command in connection with the murder charges, which were filed this week against two soldiers — Sergeant First Class Trey A Corrales, of San Antonio, and Specialist Christopher P Shore of Winder, Georgia.
Each was charged with one count of murder in the death, which allegedly occurred on June 23 near the northern city of Kirkuk, the US said in a statement.
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Browder, who was their battalion commander, is not a suspect and has not been charged with any offence, but was fired for leadership failure, the US said.
No further details were released, but the statement noted that the charges are allegations and neither of the two soldiers has been convicted.
The charges were announced one day after a US marine was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to murder in connection with the death of an Iraq last year in Hamdania. Corporal Trent Thomas was acquitted of the most serious charge of premeditated murder during a trial at Camp Pendleton, California.
Extremists
Meanwhile, American and Iraqi forces were continuing operations to clear Sunni extremists from the eastern part of Baqouba, 55km north of Baghdad, the US said.
American troops killed three al-Qaeda suspects on Thursday as they tried to slip out of the city, Iraqi security officials said. Clashes occurred during the day as American and Iraqi forces moved through the streets, securing buildings and clearing explosives.
One insurgent explosives expert led US and Iraqi troops to a bombs cache hidden in two homes of Shi’ites who had fled sectarian tension, police said.
US troops regained control of the western half of the city last month and launched operations into the rest of Baqouba last Tuesday.
Since last month, the Americans said they have killed at least 67 al-Qaeda operatives in Baqouba, arrested 253, seized 63 weapons caches and destroyed 151 roadside bombs.
In Baghdad, suspected Shi’ite militiamen blew up the minaret on a Sunni mosque in the city’s Jihad area, police said. The bodies of two men with bullets in their heads were found dumped near the mosque, police said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information.
Gunmen firing from a speeding car killed a bodyguard of a Sunni Parliament member in Mosul, police said. A Kurdish political party member was ambushed and killed in eastern Mosul, police also said, speaking on condition of anonymity for the same reason.
In western Iraq, residents said assailants blew up two bridges in Haditha overnight. The bridges connect Haditha with Anah, about 256km north-west of the capital. The American forces are blocking the area and now looking for those involved in the operation.
The residents spoke on condition of anonymity out of fears for their safety. — Sapa-AP