Iraqi lawmakers Bahaa al-Araji (left), head of the Reconstruction and Development bloc, and Mustafa Sanad (right), leader of the Abshir Ya Iraq bloc
Iraqi lawmaker barred from parliament after brawl during closed security session
BAGHDAD — Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi on Sunday barred lawmaker Mustafa Sanad from entering parliament and referred him to the parliamentary conduct committee after a physical altercation with Bahaa al-Araji, head of the Reconstruction and Development bloc, during a closed security session.
Halbousi ordered Sanad “deprived from entering parliament until he apologizes to the speaker of parliament and the head of the Reconstruction and Development bloc Bahaa al-Araji,” describing the incident as “a serious violation of parliamentary conduct rules.”
The fight broke out during a closed session chaired by Halbousi to discuss the security repercussions of the ongoing regional war. Sanad heads the “Abshir Ya Iraq” bloc.
The session was parliament’s 11th of the sixth electoral cycle and was attended by senior military commanders alongside Halbousi’s deputies Adnan Faihan and Farhad Atrushi. At the start of the session, several lawmakers chanted anti-American and anti-Israeli slogans before parliament voted to go into closed session.