Shafaq News..Former Al-Sudani coalition MP joins Sumeriyoun bloc

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi lawmaker Hussein Al-Ankoushi joined the Sumeriyoun
parliamentary bloc, led by former Labor Minister Ahmed Al-Asadi, on Sunday
after leaving former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s Reconstruction
and Development Coalition (Al-Ima’ar wal Tanmiya).

“I believe in Sumeriyoun’s legislative and oversight role
and its national political project, and I announce my decision to join the bloc
in parliament,” Al-Ankoushi said in a statement.

He left the Reconstruction and Development Coalition
following disputes over parliamentary committees and their leadership and
subsequently served as an independent lawmaker.

Last December, the coalition condemned an audio recording
attributed to Al-Ankoushi containing offensive remarks which reportedly
includes references to senior Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani, PSM
leader Muqtada Al-Sadr, and former Popular Mobilization Forces deputy commander
Abu Mahdi Al-Muhandis. Iraq’s judiciary later issued an arrest warrant for
Al-Ankoushi over the recording.

Al-Asadi, the head of the Sumeriyoun Bloc, is also among
those targeted by the Dawn Crackdown (Sawlat Al-Fajr) anti-corruption campaign.
He faces financial corruption allegations and an arrest warrant and left Iraq
shortly after the operation began, according to a source.