BAGHDAD: Iraqi Agriculture Minister Ezzedine Al Dawleh resigned yesterday after a protester was killed in the north, the second minister from the Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc to quit this month. Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki, a Shia, is at loggerheads with Iraqiya, which is a part of his national unity government, over its accusations against him of authoritarianism and sectarianism.
“I stand in front of my people... in Nineveh and I announce that I resign from this government, because there is no way I can continue in a government that does not respond to the demands” of the people, Dawleh told a televised news conference alongside parliament speaker Osama Al Nujaifi.
Deputy Prime Minister Saleh Al Mutlak said that Dawleh, who was born in Nineveh province, had been considering the move for some time, but that a deadly shooting by security forces at a protest in northern Iraq brought the issue to head. A high-ranking official in the Nineveh governor’s office said one protester was killed and five wounded on Friday, and that an investigation was underway.
Meanwhile, activists said at least one demonstrator was killed when security forces fired on an anti-government protest in Mosul, the capital of Nineveh.AFP
