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Sunni Iraqi lawmakers boycott parliament to protest violence

January 20, 2016 at 11:26 am

Sunni Iraqi lawmakers and ministers yesterday boycotted parliament and cabinet sessions to protest against violent attacks against their community in the district of Muqdadiyah, in Diyala province, east of the country.

“The Iraqi forces coalition … as the representative of the Sunni population in Iraq, announces … its members’ boycott of the next two sessions of parliament and government in condemnation of what is happening in Muqdadiyah,” Sunni Member of Parliament Ahmed Al-Massari told reporters.

Al-Massari called on Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi and the ministers of defence and interior to restore security in the district of Muqdadiyah, curb armed militias and restrict arms possession to the state similar to what has been done in the province of Basra.

He criticised “the Iraqi Human Rights Commission’s silence and indifference about the massacre in Muqdadiyah,” explaining that “the coalition will resort to legal and political means to preserve security and protect people’s lives and property.”

The coalition has informed the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Iraq Jan Kubis on the need to provide international protection to the province of Diyala and other areas that were “exposed to a campaign of ethnic and sectarian cleansing”, Al-Massari said.