Iraqi Parliament demands apology after MP is assaulted at US Checkpoint

Iraqi deputies have demanded an official apology from Washington over the manhandling by US soldiers of an MP at a Baghdad checkpoint.

Deputies suspended their session on Tuesday for an hour in protest against the incident involving Fatah al-Shaikh, a follower of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and member of the dominant United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) bloc, Aljazeera reported.

They then voted unanimously on a motion demanding an official apology from the US embassy and Washington, and the punishment of the US soldier involved.

"When I told the translator with the soldier that I was a member of the National Assembly, he answered: To hell with you and the National Assembly," al-Shaikh told his colleagues.

"I got really upset, so I got down from my vehicle to confront him and at that moment a US soldier came over and grabbed my neck and choked me for a minute or so."

Arm twisted

Al-Shaikh said the fracas started when he lined up in his car with other deputies to enter the Green Zone, the seat of the transitional government and home to the US embassy, foreign advisers and contractors.

He said he decided to get out of line and come back later when it was less crowded, but that as he began to pull out, a US soldier came and kicked his car.

Speaker al-Hasani said he might suspend assembly sessions

"I showed him my badge, but he grabbed it from my hand and tossed it in my face," al-Shaikh said. "When I got out of my car, the soldier twisted my arm."

The US military said it was investigating the incident and refused to comment.

At least three other deputies said they witnessed the mistreatment of al-Shaikh who was in a black vehicle bearing posters of al-Sadr.

The cleric led a bloody seven-month rebellion against US forces last year before laying down his weapons in October.

Insult to injury

"I saw the whole thing and adding insult to injury was when Iraqi soldiers drew their rifles at brother Fatah as he was being mistreated by the Americans,"Ali Yushaa, an independent Shia MP, said.

Deputies took turns to speak for almost two hours about the many indignities that they and the Iraqi population suffer when coming in contact with US troops.

"According to the Geneva conventions, an occupying force must respect the occupied nation," Abd al-Khaliq Zanganah, a Kurdish MP said. "This offending soldier must be thrown out of our country."

A Sunni MP, Mudhar Shawkat, handed in the green VIP badge issued by the US military authorising him and other deputies to enter the Green Zone and said he would only attend parliament if sessions were moved to another location.

"They should be put on notice and given two months - no more - to leave the Green Zone," he said before walking out.

Another unidentified MP shouted: "Yes, the end of occupation begins here. The Green Zone must be liberated from occupation"

Suspension threat

Speaker Hajim al-Hasani said he would suspend sessions altogether unless they move within a week to a building on the fringes of the Green Zone that has its own entrance and would be guarded by Iraqi soldiers.

Aljazeera quoted Al-Hasani as describing the incident as an assault but adding that a US investigation was under way.

"Enough is enough", he said before adjourning parliament until Sunday.

The sprawling Green Zone used to house Saddam Hussein’s Republican Palace, whose annex is being used now as the US embassy.