Urgent/Al-Mashhadani announces resignation

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq ‘s Parliament’s Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani announced his resignation during the session on Tuesday night, the state-run al-Iraqi television said. MP from the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) Rezza Jawad Taqi had said earlier that Iraq’s Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani agreed to present his resignation, stipulating selecting a replacement from the Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) during the same session. On Wednesday, a heated debate erupted between Mashhadani and members of parliamentary committees over the issue of Iraqi Journalist Muntadhar al-Zaydi, who threw a pair of shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush at a Baghdad-based press conference last week. Mashhadani threatened to resign from the Parliament, while some blocs said they would boycott parliamentary sessions if he retained his post as speaker. Mashhadani is a member of the National Dialogue Council, led by Sheikh Khalaf al-Alyan, which is one of the components of the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF). SH (S)/SR 1