Sunni Arab elected Iraqi speaker

IRAQI politicians elected a Sunni Arab to be the speaker of parliament yesterday, ending a political impasse and taking a decisive step towards forming a government nine weeks after historic elections.

Members of the 275-seat National Assembly voted overwhelmingly to elect Hajem al-Hassani, the current industry minister, as speaker. Mr al-Hassani is an ally of interim the prime minister Ayad Allawi.

"We passed the first hurdle," Mr al-Hassani said. "The Iraqi people have proven that they can overcome the political crisis that has plagued the country for the last two months."

But he also warned against complacency. "If we neglect our responsibilities and fail, we will hurt ourselves and the people will replace us with others," he said.

Shiite politician Hussain Shahristani and Kurdish lawmaker Arif Tayfor were elected deputy speakers. The Shiites and Kurds, who came first and second in the 30 January election, had agreed between them that a member of the once-dominant Sunni Arab minority should be elected speaker. The process of forming a government has been drawn out by sharp differences between the Shiite alliance and the more secular Kurds over who should get which cabinet posts. Parliament’s last meeting on 29 March descended into chaos after politicians berated their leaders for lack of action.

Yesterday’s vote took place hours after insurgents mounted a brazen attack on Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, battling US forces for an hour in an assault that underscored Iraq’s profound security risks. Some 44 US troops were wounded.