Al-Sadr loyalists boycott Iraq government

[ProSense]

Al-Sadr loyalists boycott Iraq government

8 minutes ago

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Lawmakers and cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr have suspended participation in parliament and the government to protest Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's summit with U.S. President George W. Bush.

A statement issued Wednesday by the 30 lawmakers and five Cabinet ministers said their action was necessary because the meeting constituted a "provocation to the feelings of the Iraqi people and a violation of their constitutional rights." The statement did not explain that claim.

Al-Maliki and Bush are meeting in Amman, the Jordanian capital, Wednesday and Thursday looking for ways to end the violence in Iraq.

Meanwhile, fierce fighting on Wednesday between coalition forces and insurgents shut down the city of Baqouba, which has been roiled by violence in recent days, killing scores of militants and civilians.

Snip...

Gunfire crackled for most of the morning around Baghdad's Green Zone, the site of U.S. and Iraqi government offices. A roadside bomb exploded Wednesday morning near a police patrol in a commercial center of the capital, killing three civilians and wounding 11 Iraqis, including two policeman and three children, said police Lt. Bilal Ali Majid.

In all, 13 insurgents, six policemen, and six civilians had been killed in fighting across Iraq by mid-afternoon, police and U.S. officials said. The mangled bodies of six civilians who had been kidnapped and tortured also were found, police said.

The U.S. military announced the deaths of two more American soldiers.

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[leveymg]

1. Where's the stairs to the roof in this damned building?

[acmavm]

2. No shit. It's so hard to imagine this mess getting any worse but

every damn day I wake up, I find that it has.

[MUAD_DIB]

3. How many lawmakers are in the Iraqi parliament?