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Iraq's New Parliament Ends First Session Early Amid Impasse

July 01, 2014
by RFE/RL

The first session of Iraq's new parliament has ended in disarray without settling on a new speaker.

Acting speaker Mehdi al-Hafidh told lawmakers that 'this session is adjourned, and it will be held next week in the event of an agreement.'

Lawmakers had taken a recess to discuss candidates for speaker, who has traditionally been Sunni Muslim, as well as two deputies who are Shi'ite and Kurdish.

Parliament convened with 255 deputies out of 328 but only 75 returned after the recess, resulting in the lack of a quorum.

There were hopes that lawmakers could make political progress as government forces pressed on with an offensive to retake the northern city of Tikrit from Sunni-led militants.

Fighters of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) captured Tikrit earlier this month as they swept across large parts of northern and western Iraq.

In an audio tape released on July 1, ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi called on Muslims to come to the territory his group has seized in Iraq and Syria to help build an Islamic state.

In his first statement since the group declared him 'caliph' last week, al-Baghdadi said: 'Muslims, rush to your state. Yes, it is your state.'

Separately, the leader of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, Masud Barzani, says he plans to hold an independence referendum within months.

In an interview with the BBC, Barzani said the time is right for a vote as Iraq is already effectively partioned.

'We will hold a referendum in Kurdistan and we will respect and be bound by the decision of our people and hope that others will do likewise,' Barzani said.

Barzani said he could not set a date yet 'but definitely it's a question of months.'

He said the final decision would be left to the Kurdish regional parliament.

Meanwhile, an Iranian official says Tehran has no plans to send troops to Iraq but could provide Baghdad with weapons if requested to 'fight against terrorism.'

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahiyan said on July 1 during a visit to Moscow that 'Iraq has strong armed forces and powerful military hardware' and has not yet requested arms from Iran.

But he said Iran would provide the 'required weapons' in accordance with 'international rules and existing agreements' if such a request was made by Baghdad officials.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama is sending about 300 more U.S. troops to Iraq to protect Americans and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

That brings the total of U.S. troops and advisers ordered to Iraq in recent weeks to almost 800.

About 470 U.S. soldiers are providing security in Baghdad -- mainly at the embassy and the airport -- while some 300 others are there to advise and coordinate with Iraqi officials on security and military matters in the fight against ISIL.

Obama notified House and Senate leaders about the latest moves in a letter on June 30. Obama said the additions include security forces, rotary-wing aircraft, and support for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

The 300 personnel would be in addition to some 300 military advisers that Obama announced he was sending to Iraq on June 19 to help coordinate the fight against ISIL.

ISIL, an Al-Qaeda splinter group, has declared a 'caliphate,' or Islamist state, in territories seized across Iraq and Syria.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the move has 'no meaning for the people in Iraq and Syria.'

Meanwhile, UN officials say that nearly 2,417 people were killed and 2,287 wounded in Iraq in June, the highest number of deaths in one month since May 2007.

Iraq officials reported a lower figure, with the Health, Interior, and Defense ministries showing that a total of 1,922 people died in June -- 1,393 civilians, 380 soldiers, and 149 policemen.

The Iraqi figures showed that a further 2,610 people were injured, including 1,745 civilians, 644 soldiers, and 221 policemen.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, and the BBC

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/iraq/25440866.html

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Iraq's New Parliament Ends First Session Early Amid Impasse