Monday, January 30, 2012

Iraqi Sunni-backed lawmakers end parliament ban

People stand outside their destroyed house at the scene of a car bomb attack in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

People stand outside their destroyed house at the scene of a car bomb attack in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Relatives and friends of a man killed in a car bomb attack load his coffin onto a vehicle during his funeral in Zafaraniyah, Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-packed car near a funeral procession in southeastern Baghdad on Friday, killing and injuring dozens of Iraqis, police said. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

(AP) ? An official with Iraq's Sunni-backed political alliance says its leaders have decided to end a parliament boycott, but the bloc's ministers will stay away from Cabinet meetings to protest arrests and prosecution of Sunni officials.

Maysoun al-Damlouji, a spokeswoman for Iraqiya bloc, says its lawmakers will return to the parliament when it reconvenes Tuesday.

She said Iraqiya's leaders decided that the bloc's ministers will not attend the weekly meeting of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Cabinet the same day.

The decision Sunday could escalate sectarian tensions in the Shiite-dominated government. It erupted last month after authorities issued an arrest warrant against the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on terrorism charges.

A surge in sectarian violence has accompanied the political crisis.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) ? A roadside bomb targeting a police patrol in southeastern Baghdad killed one person on Sunday, officials said. The attack came two days after a blast in the same area claimed the lives of 33 people.

The bomb in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Zafaraniyah wounded nine others, police said. A police vehicle and a civilian car were damaged by the explosion, they added.

Hospital officials confirmed the casualties.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

On Friday, a suicide car bomber struck a Shiite funeral procession in Zafaraniyah. Many Iraqis suspect al-Qaida militants of engineering a recent series of attacks on Shiites to provoke a counterattack by Shiite militias, and rekindle widespread sectarian conflict now that U.S. troops have left Iraq.

Al-Qaida and other Sunni extremist groups are also thought to be exploiting sectarian tensions in the wake of a political crisis which erupted last month, after authorities in the Shiite-dominated government issued an arrest warrant against the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on terrorism charges.

In protest, the Sunni-backed bloc has been boycotting parliament and Cabinet sessions.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Iraq/id-f15849c40d02404ea31f126f466e596f

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