Iraq Sunnis to rejoin parliament

BAGHDAD – Sunni parliament members agreed to return to the legislative assembly after a brief boycott ended Sunday night as a top U.S. official warned of future violence if more political reconciliation is not made.

The parliamentary boycott, which began Saturday and pitted Sunnis against Shiites following what was called the house arrest of a leading Sunni politician, subsided as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte wrapped up his six-day tour of Iraq.

“The security surge has delivered significant results,” Negroponte told reporters at a news conference in Baghdad. “Now progress on political reconciliation, including key national legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to consolidate the gains. If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling back toward the more violent habits of the past.”

National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie, along with others in parliament, escorted Adnan al-Dulaimi, a leading member of the Iraqi Accordance Front, to the Al-Rasheed hotel, across from the parliament after at least two days of confinement at his home.

The Sunni bloc planned to return to parliament today, said Thafir al-Ani, a Sunni lawmaker from the Iraqi Accordance Front.

Members of the Iraqi Accordance Front said Dulaimi had been placed under house arrest. In contrast, other officials and the U.S. military said it had been done for his own protection after about 40 members of his staff, including security guards and his son, were detained in relation to car bombings and killings near his home in the Sunni Adil district of Baghdad.