An altercation? That's the term All Iraq News is using for what took place in Parliament today between several deputies and led Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi to immediately adjourn the session and postpone the next session until Saturday. Thrown fists have not been uncommon in the Iraqi Parliament in the last seven years but it has been some time since there were any reports of physical violence among MPs. Whatever happened, All Iraq News notes it took place in the hallway. Alsumaria also terms it an "altercation" and notes that prior to that, the Parliament had read six bills and was discussing the allegations of torture in Iraqi prisons and detention centers. Though no one has yet to take responsibility for the altercation, you can be sure State of Law will insist it was caused by 'Ba'athists' who've been hiding out in Syria (since that is the group they tend to blame for everything).
The Ministry of the Interior (headed by Nouri since he never nominated anyone to be Minister of Interior -- in violation of the Constitution) issued a statement today. Dar Addustour reports that statement strongly denies that any women are being held illegally or tortured in detention centers. That is the wording of the statement. I point that out because the accusation is women are being tortured in detention centers and prisons and the statement issued only covers detention centers. Kitabat notes that before the altercation, the Parliament was discussing the denial by the Ministry of the Interior.
Nouri had hoped for a different image to be projected today. All Iraq News notes that the prime minister visited the International Book Fair in Baghdad today and posed for photos. Not only did the bombings and shootings and whatever happened in the hallways of Parliament overwhelm that photo op, the Russian arms deal just will not go away.
October 9th, with much fanfare, Nouri signed a $4.2 billion dollar weapons deal with Russia. After taking his bows on the world stage and with Parliament and others raising objections, Nouri quickly announced the deal was off. It's not going away.
The deal has been rife with rumors of corruption from the moment that it was announced. Nouri's spokesperson Ali al-Dabbagh has twice had to publicly issue statements insisting he was not involved in the deal. In addition, there are allegations that Nouri's son received a kickback from the deal.
Mohammad Sabah (Al Mada) notes that al-Dabbagh has left Baghdad and arrived in the UAE and that someone is whispering Russian President Vladimir Putin personally provided Nouri with proof that al-Dabbagh was involved in backroom deals to benefit from the contract. If the point of that rumor is to create sympathy for Nouri, it doesn't. It just makes him look incompetent if it's true. True or not, it's very hard to believe that Putin (or any leader) would provide evidence of corruption knowing it would tank a multi-billion dollar deal.
Al Rafidayn notes that Parliament's Integrity Commission is said to have the names of 14 officials who were to profit from the corrupt deal. Kitabat explains one of the names is Ali al-Dabbagh and the Parliament was attempting to call on him to appear before them. That's now in doubt since he's fled to the UAE. Kitabat notes the other names are said to be those who accompanied Nouri to Russia.
Adding to the view of Nouri as an incompetent on the world stage are the issues emerging over another big contract. Dar Addustour reports that Rotana Arabia, a cell phone company, signed a contract with Iraq woth as much as $30 million. The contract was brokered by Saadoun al-Dulaimi who is the Minister of Culture. Nouri's calling for the contract to be cancelled, citing corruption. He wants the Ministry to cancel the contract. Not the Minister. He can't ask Minister of Culture Saadoun al-Dulaimi to do anything because no one can find him and he's reportedly fled the country.
We'll cover the continued tensions between Erbil and Baghdad in the snapshot today but right now we'll note Mohammad Sabah's report for Al Mada which asserts that Nouri is angry because his generals are not providing him with details and summeries of the ongoing negotiations with the Kurdish Peshmerga officials. If Nouri is really being kept out of the loop, that says a great deal about how much his power has faded in the last weeks.
In the US, Senator Patty Murray is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. Yesterday her office issued the following:
Committee on
Veterans’ Affairs
United States Senate
112th Congress, Second Session
Hearing Schedule
Update: November 28, 2012
Wednesday
December 12, 2012
10:00am
SR-418
Hearing: Nomination
of Keith Kelly to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans’ Employment and
Training.
Matthew T. Lawrence
Chief Clerk / System Administrator
Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
202-224-9126
The e-mail address for this site is common_ills@yahoo.com.
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