Iraqi parliament elects Sunni Islamist speaker

BAGHDAD (Reuters) – Iraq’s parliament elected Arab Sunni
Islamist Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as its speaker on Saturday as
politicians began putting together a government after a
four-month deadlock.

Mashhadani, a former medical officer in Saddam Hussein’s
army who was imprisoned by the former leader for joining
outlawed Islamist groups, is a member of the largest Sunni
alliance.

Shortly before he was elected, the physician was asked by
an assembly member about his history. One of the more colorful
figures to have appeared in the parliament, Mashhadani
explained how he survived a death sentence under the past
regime, which accused him of opposing Saddam’s war against Iran
in the 1980s.

“I actually bribed the head of the Revolutionary Court with
32 million Iraqi dinars ($16,000) to reduce the penalty to 15
years,” said Mashhadani.