Maliki uses Parliament to accuse rival of crimes.

Extraordinary scenes took place yesterday in the Iraqi parliament which must undermine any hope that George Bush's new Surge and Escalate policy can restore any kind of order in Baghdad. The rift between Sunni and Shia politicians seems poisonous with Maliki going as far as to accuse a Sunni politician - Mr. Janabi, who leads the Sunni-dominated Tawafiq Party - of criminal activity.

This produced a rebuke from the speaker of Parliament, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, who said:

“That is unacceptable, Mr. Prime Minister,” Mr. Mashhadani said over the tumult. “It is unacceptable, Mr. Prime Minister, to make such accusations against a lawmaker under the dome of Parliament.”

However, Maliki pressed on.

“What about the 150 people kidnapped near Al Bairaat?” he said, referring to an area by a lake south of Baghdad where Mr. Janabi has his base of support.

“I will show you,” Mr. Maliki said, waving his finger in the air. “I will turn over the documents we have,” implying that the legislator was guilty of crimes.

Maliki clearly is accusing Janabi of being in some way complicit in this action, which does beg the question of why, if Maliki has evidence of this, that he has not passed this evidence on to the police and had Janabi charged.

Mr. Janabi could not be reached for comment but another member of his party, Dhafer al-Ani, said Mr. Maliki was trying to “terrify” his opponents into silence. “If there are documents against him showing crimes, why were they not revealed until this session?” he said in an interview. “What kept him silent all this time?”

It's a valid point. The irony is that this exchange took place whilst they were discussing the new Baghdad security plan, which is supposed to reduce sectarian conflict in the city.

The session of Parliament was attended by nearly all members, a rarity in recent months, and was broadcast live on Iraqi national television.

The lawmakers had their shouting match while sitting beneath a banner with a phrase from the Koran that extols the importance of a civil debate in making good decisions.

Shatha al-Mousawi, a lawmaker from the Mr. Maliki’s leading Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance, said some politicians were simply grandstanding for the cameras. But she said the fighting continued after Mr. Mashhadani abruptly called an end to the session and the cameras were turned off.

Mr. Mashhadani demanded that the prime minister apologize to Mr. Janabi. Members of Mr. Maliki’s party said Mr. Janabi was the one who should apologize, Ms. Mousawi said.

Mr. Mashhadani then threatened to quit.

“Someone said you do not need to quit, we will dismiss you,” she said.

Mr. Mashhadani called a Shiite politician a “psychopath,” as the bitter exchanges continued.

Eventually, though, the tensions eased and Parliament approved the security plan.

The Sunnis have accused Maliki of cracking down on Sunni death squads whilst allowing Shia death squads to operate unhindered. I have no idea if this is true or false, but the very fact that the politicians are now at each others throats suggests that the breakdown between the ethnic/religious groups is no longer confined to the streets but has now entered the Parliament itself.

It is into this madness that George Bush is sending 21,500 more young Americans.

Click title for full article.

tag: Maliki, Janabi, Iraq Parliament, Baghdad security plan, surge and accelerate, Iraq war