Iraq parliament renews emergency rule, Sunnis complain

BAGHDAD, Nov 28 (Reuters) Iraq's parliament renewed the prime minister's emergency powers for another month today, the speaker said, although the Sunni Arab vice president said he may block further extensions over human rights abuses.

There was also dissent from the floor of the chamber over the result of the vote, but the speaker waved aside a complaint that it had not been properly counted, ensuring that a state of emergency dating back more than two years goes on.

Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, from the Sunni Arab minority, said the measure granting exceptional powers to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was approved by 189 votes on a show of hands. But one member, who was not identified, rose to complain that fewer than that number were present in the chamber.

In another note of dissent, Sunni Arab Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi wrote in a footnote to the request to parliament to extend the powers that he wanted to see an end to ''double standards'' in their application and respect for human rights.

''I will not agree to a state of emergency next time if the situation stays as it is,'' Hashemi says.

Many in the once-dominant Sunni minority accuse security forces of being loyal to Shi'ite factions in government and, in some cases, of running death squads against Sunnis.

Parliament's session was broadcast on state television. For the second day running, security guards barred journalists from the building as part of a new measure which the speaker said on Monday was intended to prevent the airing of sectarian disputes following an increase in the level of violence this past week.

REUTERS SSC VV1734