Iraq Sunni lawmaker opposes move to lift immunity

BAGHDAD, Mar 9 (Reuters) Iraq's supreme judicial council has asked parliament to lift the immunity of an outspoken Sunni lawmaker on suspicion of links to insurgents, the parliamentarian and his political bloc said.

Abid-Naser al-Janabi accused Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki -- with whom he argued earlier this year -- of being behind the move, but Maliki is currently trying to promote dialogue between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs to reduce sectarian violence.

Janabi, a member of the Accordance Front, the main Sunni political bloc in the government, said yesterday the prime minister was trying to silence his critics by ''inventing these lies and fabricating information to accuse me''.

The judicial council's action against Janabi could hamper Maliki's efforts to promote reconciliation and dialogue between his majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs, who were dominant under Saddam Hussein but now feel marginalised.

Janabi, speaking by telephone from Syria, vowed to return to Iraq within days to face the accusations against him.

Maliki's office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Accordance Front, told Reuters his bloc would oppose the move to strip Janabi of judicial immunity to clear the way for his prosecution.

''They are false allegations accusing him of terrorism. We will prove these accusations are incorrect,'' Dulaimi said.

Janabi has criticised the government and was involved in an angry exchange with Maliki, a Shi'ite Islamist, during a televised parliament session earlier this year.

On that occasion, Maliki told Janabi a security file was being prepared on him for suspected links to insurgents.

Janabi said he believed the move to lift his immunity stemmed from that argument. ''These accusations are a matter of honour to me because they want to shut the mouth of anyone who wants to tell the truth,'' he told Reuters.

Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Khaled Attiya said the request to lift Janabi's immunity would be added to parliament's agenda, probably next week. ''We have received the request for Janabi and maybe we will get other names,'' Attiya told Reuters.

A justice ministry official confirmed that the request to lift Janabi's immunity had been made after the interior ministry sent his file to the justice ministry last month.

Another source in the Sunni Accordance said Janabi was accused of meeting insurgents from an al Qaeda-led group.

Reuters SY DB1016