WORLD> Middle East
Iraq lawmaker says speaker offers to resign
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-23 19:34

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi lawmaker says the parliament's Sunni speaker has said he will resign if certain conditions are met.

A British soldier stands near Iraqi trainees crawling under barbed wires during military training conducted by British forces for Iraqi soldiers at a joint military base in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, in this October 20, 2008 file photo. [Agenies]

If true, that could break an impasse that has stalled a resolution allowing non-US troops to stay in Iraq beyond New Year's Eve.

Shiite lawmaker Ridha Jwad Taqi told The Associated Press that Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani said Tuesday that he would resign. But in return, Taqi says, al-Mashhadani wants to be named head of a human rights association and a guarantee that his post is filled by someone other than a member of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party.

The speaker's post is usually held by a Sunni and there are a number of parties in parliament.

Kurdish and Shiite lawmakers have given al-Mashhadani until Tuesday to either resign or be voted out of office.