Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break

Little movement on key legislation as body adjourns through August

By Heather McPherson, Newser User

Posted Jul 30, 2007 4:45 PM CDT

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Iraqi Parliament Takes a Break — Girls play on a swing as a U.S. soldier stands next to his humvee in the Kazamiyah neighborhood where the Imam Kadhim shrine is located in Baghdad, Friday, May 4, 2007. The mosque of Imam Kadhim, the most revered Shiite shrine in Baghdad, is a tempting target for Sunni fanatics. To protect it, Iraqi... (Associated Press)

Saying PM Nouri al-Maliki's government had given it little to work with, Iraq's parliament began a 5-week recess today, Reuters reports. The chamber normally begins its summer break in July, but with crucial legislation pending, members delayed. Squabbling between political factions then stalled laws seen as vital to mending the Sunni-Shiite fracture that's impeding the new regime's progress.

The move is a blow to President Bush, whose team in Iraq will now likely have little to show when they report in mid-September on the troop surge and other recent strategy changes. "We do not have anything to discuss in the parliament, no laws or constitutional amendments, nothing from the government," one Kurdish lawmaker said. (More troop surge stories.)

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