By Country / Iraq
Iraqi Parliament Removes Speaker
June 11, 2007
Speaker al-Mashhadani shortly after his selection as speaker on April 22, 2006 (epa)
Mahmud al-Mashhadani had been involved in frequent shouting matches with other lawmakers, and colleagues had complained he was being disrespectful.
Members of parliament said the final straw came on June 10, when a Turkoman lawmaker accused al-Mashhadani's bodyguards of heavy-handedness.
Al-Mashhadani will be replaced by another member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, the main Sunni political bloc.
(Reuters, AP, AFP)