Our Guys Get Killed, Iraqi Parliament Goes On Vacation

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Lawmakers from two major blocs in Iraq's parliament ended boycotts and returned to work this week, just two weeks before all the politicians go home for a controversial monthlong summer break.


The office of Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, the top Sunni politician in Iraq's government, on Thursday confirmed the end of the walkout by the 44-member Iraqi Accord Front, which includes al-Hashimi's Iraq Islamic Party.

The mainly Sunni bloc had suspended its participation in the Council of Representatives last month in protest over the ouster of the Sunni parliament speaker, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani.

But al-Mashhadani -- whose Shiite deputy replaced him after a bitter quarrel between his camp and a Shiite lawmaker -- is back in the saddle as head of parliament.

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