BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament Usama al-Nujaifi condemned on Thursday statements made by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, considering such statements as a new violation of the constitution.

 

 

This came during in a statement released by the Iraqi parliament and received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.

Al-Maliki had fired strong statements two days ago, in which he warned  he will not tolerate Sunni anti-government rallies indefinitely, but made a concession to their demands by promising to free some women prisoners.

 

Thousands of Sunnis have been taking to the streets of Iraq for more than a week in protest against Maliki, whom they accuse of discriminating against their sect and being under the sway of their non-Arab Shi'ite neighbor Iran.

 

The incident has once more threatened to plunge a delicate power-sharing deal into turmoil, just as President Jalal Talabani, a moderating influence, is in Germany for medical care after suffering a stroke.

 

The cradle of the protests is Anbar province, a Sunni stronghold in western Iraq,  where demonstrators are blocking a key highway to Jordan and Syria.

 

In a televised interview late on Monday, Maliki said there were foreign agendas behind the protests, which he described as "unconstitutional".

 

"I say to those who follow these agendas: Don't think it's difficult for the government to take measures against you or to re-open the road and put an end to this matter," Maliki said.

 

"We have been very patient with you, but don't expect this issue to be open-ended."

 

The protesters are demanding an end to what they see as the marginalization of the Sunni minority, who dominated Iraq until the US-led invasion of 2003 toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.

 

 

SH (TI)/SR