2 lawmakers’ bodyguards released on bail

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The investigation judge decided on Thursday to free the bodyguards of Lawmakers, Ahmed Radhi and Ali al-Sajri, who were detained after the escape of MP Mohamed al-Dayni, the official spokesman for the Baghdad Operations Command (BOC) said. “The four bodyguards were referred to the Baghdad investigation judge, who decided to release them on bail,” General Qassim Atta told IraqiNews.com news agency. On Wednesday (Feb. 25), Atta called on citizens to provide the police with any information leading to the arrest of MP Mohammed al-Dayni, noting that the hunt is still underway for the parliamentarian. “MP Dayni escaped to an unknown destination after Parliament stripped him of immunity,” Atta told IraqiNews.com news agency. Yesterday, the Iraqi Parliament unanimously agreed to strip Dayni of his immunity following accusations made against him by the Interior Ministry. MP Ahmed Radhi from the Sunni Iraqi Accord Front (IAF) had said that an Iraqi Airways plane carrying five lawmakers, including Dayni, which was heading for Amman, returned to Baghdad airport 20 minutes after taking off. The director of the National Command Center, General Abdelkarim Khalaf, said that the lawmaker is not allowed to leave the country in accordance with a Higher Criminal Court order. On Monday (Feb. 22), Dayni, who belongs to the National Dialogue Front (NDF) denied involvement in a 2007 bombing that tore through the Iraqi Parliament, in addition to charges of sectarian murders and displacement operations. Dayna called on the parliamentary Security and Defense Committee to disclose the outcome of the investigation into the bombing. On April, 12, 2007, a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a cafeteria at the Iraqi Parliament, killing three persons, two of them MPs, and wounding 20 others.   SH (S)/SR 1