MPs say no Iranian bribes to reject pact

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A media advisor for the Multi National Force (MNF) in Iraq reiterated accusations by MNF Commander, General Raymond Odierno, that Iran bribed some Iraqi lawmakers to stall the Iraqi-U.S. long-term security agreement. However, some Iraqi legislators dismissed the accusations while others did not deny an Iranian influence over some members of Iraq’s council of representatives (parliament). Al-Meqdad Gabriel told IraqiNews.com “Iran tries to bribe some Iraqi lawmakers to oppose the security pact.” Aqeel Abdulhussein, head of the Shiite Sadris bloc in the Iraqi parliament, which has 30 out of 275 seats, criticized U.S. officials’ statements regarding Iran and the Iraqi-U.S. agreement, describing them as “absolutely incorrect.” “There is a public and political rejection to the pact,” Abdulhussein told IraqiNews.com. “Legislators who reject the agreement do so out of keenness on maintaining the national interest,” he said. “Most of the political, religious and popular powers fear the consequences of this security pact, in addition to its effects on the national interest,” he added. For his part, Mahmoud Othman, a senior member of the Kurdistan Alliance (KA), the second largest bloc 53 seats, ruled that some Iraqi members of parliament received bribes from Iran to reject the Iraqi-U.S. long-term security pact. He, however, pointed out that there are “Iranian attempts to encourage the rejection of this agreement.” “Through its channels of communications, Iran tries to influence Iraqi politicians into hindering efforts to sign this pact with the U.S.,” Othman told IraqiNews.com. “I do not think that Iraqi politicians would receive bribes to oppose the agreement,” he said. “Parliamentarians are not within that vile level to receive bribes from foreign parties at the expense of their country’s issues,” he added. “The U.S. administration is circulating these rumors to accelerate the process of signing the pact,” he noted. “I believe that such statements bring reversed effects to the U.S. efforts in this regard,” he asserted. But Taha al-Lehebi, a lawmaker from the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) bloc, the third largest with 38 seats, pointed out that there is “an Iranian influence over some Iraqi politicians”. “I know nothing about bribes being paid to members of parliament to oppose the agreement, but some of them are loyal to Iran,” Lehebi told IraqiNews.com. “Iraqi politicians are subjected to two kinds of pressures: the United States to sign the pact and Iran to oppose it,” he said. “Iran can influence some Iraqi politicians without having to linen their pockets,” he noted. MH (I)/AmR 1