IPU CONDEMNS KILLING OF IRAQI LAWMAKER

Canadian Senator Sharon Carstairs, President of the IPU’s Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians, has condemned the killing of Iraqi Member of Parliament Mr. Hareth al-Obaidi, along with his bodyguard, in a mosque in Baghdad last Friday.

"I am all too aware that many brave men and women parliamentarians around the world are risking their lives to do their work", Ms. Carstairs said. She first met Mr. Al-Obaidi at the IPU in Geneva in 2006, at a meeting with the Iraqi parliamentary human rights committee. "I was struck by the enormous personal risks these parliamentarians faced in their efforts to improve life in Iraq", added Senator Carstairs, "and now Mr. Al-Obaidi has paid the ultimate price".

The President of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians offered her condolences to the Parliament of Iraq and the families of the victims.