MrAustin
07-03-2007, 09:11 PM
The Iraqi Parliament has replaced a well-known controversial Sunni Arab legislator, according to a statement issued Tuesday.
Mishan al-Jabouri, leader of the predominately Sunni Arab “Dialogue and Reconciliation Front” was replaced by the Parliament, according to a statement issued in Arabic by the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Hussein Muhammad 'Abdallah al-Jubouri, a member of Mishan al-Jubouri’s tribe and political bloc, was named as the replacement.
Hussein Muhammad 'Abdallah was sworn in by Khalid Attiya, the deputy speaker of the Parliament, the statement says.
Attiya is performing the role of acting speaker during an ongoing controversy over the position of Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.
It bears noting that the 275-member chamber met without the 30-seat Sadrist bloc, and the 44-seat Tawafuq Front, which have suspended their participation in the Parliament over the issues of reconstruction of the Samarra shrine and the attempt to remove Speaker Mashhadani, respectively.
The parliament’s statement says that Mishan al-Jubouri’s parliamentary bloc itself (Liberation and Reconcilation) had requested the replacement.
The statement cites the fifth paragraph of the first article of the “Law for Replacing Members of Parliament,” number six, of 2006, as the legal basis of the action.
"This council is a joke," Mishan al-Jabouri told the Associated Press from Damascus. "There is nothing called replacing a member of parliament. This does not happen in any parliament in the world."
"I do not have the honor to be a member of the parliament but this does not mean that anyone can change my capacity. I was elected by the people and 150,000 people voted for me," he said.
Mishan al-Jabouri was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in October 2006 after he was accused of embezzlement of public funds. He has not appeared in Iraq since that time.
Jabouri, now in exile in Damascus, publishes a newspaper critical of the Iraqi government and Coalition forces, but may be best recognized for his role as the owner of al-Zawra television (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/358/Bill_Roggio_Scoops_Zawraa_TV_Responds), a satellite channel that celebrates Iraqi resistance (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/137/Bill_Roggio_Reports_Insurgent_TV) activity against Coalition forces, as well as having been one of the earliest Sunni Arab venues to publicly denounce al-Qa'ida and related organizations in Iraq (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1489/Al_Qaeda_Losing_Allies_in_Iraqi_Media).
In February, US forces reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Jubouri (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1295/US_Cash_Reward_Offered_for_Chopper_Shootdown), on charges of “inciting terrorism and attacks against U.S. forces,” and raided his party offices in Kirkuk as well as residences of his relatives north of Baghdad.
See also IraqSlogger’s exclusive interview (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2093/Ex-Opposition_Figure_Now_Praises_Saddam) with Mishan al-Jabouri from Syria.
Mishan al-Jabouri, leader of the predominately Sunni Arab “Dialogue and Reconciliation Front” was replaced by the Parliament, according to a statement issued in Arabic by the Iraqi Council of Representatives.
Hussein Muhammad 'Abdallah al-Jubouri, a member of Mishan al-Jubouri’s tribe and political bloc, was named as the replacement.
Hussein Muhammad 'Abdallah was sworn in by Khalid Attiya, the deputy speaker of the Parliament, the statement says.
Attiya is performing the role of acting speaker during an ongoing controversy over the position of Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.
It bears noting that the 275-member chamber met without the 30-seat Sadrist bloc, and the 44-seat Tawafuq Front, which have suspended their participation in the Parliament over the issues of reconstruction of the Samarra shrine and the attempt to remove Speaker Mashhadani, respectively.
The parliament’s statement says that Mishan al-Jubouri’s parliamentary bloc itself (Liberation and Reconcilation) had requested the replacement.
The statement cites the fifth paragraph of the first article of the “Law for Replacing Members of Parliament,” number six, of 2006, as the legal basis of the action.
"This council is a joke," Mishan al-Jabouri told the Associated Press from Damascus. "There is nothing called replacing a member of parliament. This does not happen in any parliament in the world."
"I do not have the honor to be a member of the parliament but this does not mean that anyone can change my capacity. I was elected by the people and 150,000 people voted for me," he said.
Mishan al-Jabouri was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in October 2006 after he was accused of embezzlement of public funds. He has not appeared in Iraq since that time.
Jabouri, now in exile in Damascus, publishes a newspaper critical of the Iraqi government and Coalition forces, but may be best recognized for his role as the owner of al-Zawra television (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/358/Bill_Roggio_Scoops_Zawraa_TV_Responds), a satellite channel that celebrates Iraqi resistance (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/137/Bill_Roggio_Reports_Insurgent_TV) activity against Coalition forces, as well as having been one of the earliest Sunni Arab venues to publicly denounce al-Qa'ida and related organizations in Iraq (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1489/Al_Qaeda_Losing_Allies_in_Iraqi_Media).
In February, US forces reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Jubouri (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/1295/US_Cash_Reward_Offered_for_Chopper_Shootdown), on charges of “inciting terrorism and attacks against U.S. forces,” and raided his party offices in Kirkuk as well as residences of his relatives north of Baghdad.
See also IraqSlogger’s exclusive interview (http://www.iraqslogger.com/index.php/post/2093/Ex-Opposition_Figure_Now_Praises_Saddam) with Mishan al-Jabouri from Syria.