Sunnis boycott parliament over lawmaker's kidnap

BAGHDAD, July 2 (Reuters) Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc said today it would boycott parliament until a colleague was released by gunmen who seized her in a mainly Shi'ite district of Baghdad a day earlier.

There was still no word of Taiseer Najah al-Mashhadani of the Iraqi Accordance Front and seven of her bodyguards, who were taken at gunpoint in northern Baghdad yesterday after two cars full of gunmen blocked their way.

''The Accordance Front bloc will boycott the sessions in parliament until she is released,'' said Sunni leader Adnan al-Dulaimi.

Politicians in other blocs urged the Sunni bloc to cancel its boycott saying it would only encourage militants to block the political process.

Two other members of parliament were attacked on Sunday. One, a liberal Shi'ite cleric, survived a bombing on his convoy and another, a Shi'ite Islamist, was targeted in a kidnap attempt. Her fate and those of her guards was unclear amid conflicting reports from police and Interior Ministry officials.

REUTERS CH BD1631