Iraq's Sunni MPs boycott parliament sessions for killing of tribal leader

Iraq's Sunni lawmakers decided on Saturday to boycott parliament sessions to protest the killing of a Sunni tribal leader, and at least seven others in Baghdad by unidentified attackers.

Ahmed al-Msari, a Sunni lawmaker, said Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the ministers of interior and defense are responsible for the attack.

He said that it was "lawlessness and "leniency toward murderers" that have encouraged such criminal acts, and accused the security forces of simply letting "such cowardly acts" to happen with intervention.

The lawmaker and his fellow Sunni colleagues were implying that one of the Shiite militias were behind the attack.

Late Friday, unknown gunmen attacked a two-car convoy carrying Sheikh Qassem Sweidan al-Janabi and his nephew, lawmaker Zaid al-Janabi, according to security sources, adding that Zaid was later released after being beaten hard.

According to al-Msari, the victims were intercepted by a fake checkpoint in the Shiite district of Abu-Dsher in southern Baghdad, and then taken to an unknown place, adding that their bodies were found in another Shiite district in northeastern Baghdad later.

Iraq has been witnessing some of the worst violence in recent years. At least 12,282 civilians were killed and 23,126 others injured in 2014, the deadliest year since the flare-up of sectarian violence in 2006-2007, according to a recent UN report. Endit