Iraqi leader of main Sunni Arab political bloc on Sunday accused the Shiite-dominated government of practicing pressures on him to keep him silent by imposing "house arrest" on him.
Earlier on Saturday, the Iraqi government denied that Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the National Accordance Front, the main Sunni Arab political bloc, is under house arrest, saying the Iraqi forces are guarding his house and office for his safety after detaining dozens of his guards and aides on suspicion of linking to a booby-trapped car found near his office compound in the Adel neighborhood in western Baghdad.
"The goal of this house arrest is to keep me silent as part of pressures not to raise my voice to correct the march of the political process and defend the Iraqi people and detainees," al-Dulaimi told Xinhua by telephone from his house, where dozens of Iraqi troops surrounding it.
Al-Dulaimi said that he was prevented from leaving the house to attend the parliament session for the second day. He also accused the Iraqi troops that surround his house of preventing his relatives from visiting him.
"They prevent everybody from visiting me, including my 87-year-old sister," he said.
"It is unprecedented in Iraq to put a lawmaker under house arrest," al-Dulaimi added. "This is illegal and unconstitutional."
Qassim Atta al-Moussawi, spokesman of the Baghdad's security plane told to Xinhua that al-Dulaimi is allowed to leave his house, but he advised him to stay at home for his safety after detaining his guards earlier.
"We have repeatedly said that he (al-Dulaimi) will not leave his house because his guards were arrested and I urge him to stay at home as we have intelligence saying that his life is in danger," al-Moussawi said.
On Saturday, the largest Sunni Arab bloc with 44 members in the 275-seat parliament announced withdrawal from the parliament, protesting the crackdown of their leader and the detention of dozens of his aides.
"We have decided to withdraw from the Council of representatives (parliament) until Adnan al-Dulaimi returns," said Ahamd Sulaiman, member of National Accordance Front in the parliament.
In a statement posted on its website, the Sunni Arab Front saidthat al-Dulaimi has been put under a situation "similar to house arrest."
It also condemned the detention of al-Dulaimi's son and the others, saying "such indecent acts will only complicate the political crisis."
The statement accused the security forces of "fabricating this crisis to disturb the improvement of security gained by the local Awakening Councils, which fight the terrorism of al-Qaida and militias."
The crisis threatened to escalate tension between Shiite and Sunni communities at a time when U.S. officials were urging Iraqi politicians to exploit the sharp drop of violence to forge power-sharing agreements among Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds.
Source: Xinhua
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