Iraq parliament elects jovial Sunni Islamist speaker

BAGHDAD, Apr 22 (Reuters) Iraq's parliament elected Arab Sunni Islamist Mahmoud al-Mashhadani as its speaker today, a colourful figure who joked about how he bribed a judge in the past but promised to ban corruption in the future.

The physician addressed the chamber and mixed humour with serious pledges as politicians began putting together a government seen as the best way to avert a sectarian civil war.

Mashhadani served as a medical officer in Saddam Hussein's army but was sentenced to death by his regime for joining outlawed Islamist groups.

He is a member of the most powerful Sunni bloc, which US and Iraqi officials hope will help draw Sunni insurgents and militants into the political process.

Mashhadani, one of the more lively figures to have appeared in a drab parliament, smiled as he discussed what he said were his flaws, responding to a question about his past before being elected as speaker of the 275-seat national assembly.

Smiling, 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 (,000) to reduce the penalty to 15 years. I spent two years in prison and was then released in a pardon,'' said Mashhadani.

''I have a bad mark. I tried to bribe the judicial system. But I pledge to you that in our judicial system I won't allow anyone to take bribes.'' His transparency may be welcomed in a country where suspicions run deep between Shi'ites, Sunni Arabs and Kurds.

Parliament elected a Shi'ite and a Kurd deputy for Mashhadani, an apparent reflection of constant efforts to strike a sectarian balance in a country ravaged by communal violence.

Mashhadani only had one competitor for the position of speaker, Sunni politician Saleh Mutlaq. But he withdrew his nomination to protest what he said was sectarian influence over politics.

Mashhadani proudly recalled how he tried to talk his way out of Saddam's Abu Ghraib prison just before the US-led invasion in 2003.

''I met an intelligence officer who told me that Iraq was coming to a catastrophe and asked me what I think,'' said Mashhadani, bespectacled and in a sharp suit.

''I said get all the prisoners out because if there is an invasion of Abu Ghraib and they give us guns we will be 60,000 gunmen who can occupy Baghdad in 10 minutes. So why don't you free us.'' REUTERS SRS PM2032