December 24, 2008	Wednesday	Zilhaj 25, 1429

BAGHDAD, Dec 23: Iraqi parliament speaker Mahmud Mashhadani said on Tuesday that he will resign, ending a political crisis that had thrown into doubt arrangements for a British troop presence into next year. Immediately following a speech by the fiery politician, the parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to allow the presence of non-US foreign troops after December 31, when a UN mandate expires.

“I announce that I’m resigning from my position as parliament speaker in the interests of the people,” Mashhadani said in his speech to MPs, triggering applause.

His announcement came after a vote last week that was to provide British and other non-US foreign forces with a legal basis to remain in Iraq into 2009 was suddenly shelved in a row between him and some MPs.

“The parliament authorised the Iraqi government to take all measures in order to realise the complete withdrawal of Britons, Australians, Romanians, Salvadorians, Estonians and those from Nato no later than July 31, 2009,” Jamal al-Butikh, chief of the secular Nationalist Party, told AFP.

The United States, which supplies 95 per cent of foreign troops in Iraq, has already signed a Status of Forces Agreement with Baghdad, under which its combat forces can remain in the country until the end of 2011.

During a surprise visit to Iraq last week, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that his country’s troops would wrap up their mission by the end of May and later said that all but 400 would be out by July 31, 2009.

There are currently 4,100 British troops in Iraq concentrated around Basra airport in the south, and in total less than 6,000 non-US troops stationed in Iraq. The United States currently has 146,000 soldiers in Iraq.

A vast majority of 223 deputies present in the 275-member parliament voted to approve the resolution that will see the pull out of non-US forces from Iraq in about six months, but the exact breakdown was not immediately available.

“Based on the request put forward by 50 deputies on the withdrawal of foreign troops in Iraq, (a vote was taken) and it was accepted by a vast majority,” Shiite deputy speaker Khallid al-Attiya told AFP.

Parliamentarians burst into loud applause at the end of Mashhadani’s apologetic but passionate speech.

“What happened in the last session was a slip of the tongue, and what I wanted to say was in the interests of the people. “But the anger I felt, God did not give me the power to control myself,” he added.

“My excuse to you is I spent 35 hard years of my life moving from one prison to another. If I have hurt you please excuse me. I apologise for my shortcomings,” he said.

The political crisis was sparked when a group of 54 MPs called for Mashhadani to be fired after he described some lawmakers as “sons of dogs” during a heated session.—AFP