NIA holds emergency meeting on election law veto

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The National Iraqi Alliance (NIA) on Wednesday held an emergency meeting, presided over by Sheikh Hammam Hamoudi, to discuss the vice president’s veto of the elections law. “The meeting was attended by Shiite Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi and representatives of all constituents of the alliance, including Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer from the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), Hadi al-Aameri from Badr Organization, Ahmed al-Chalabi from the Iraqi National Congress (INC), Nassar al-Rabiee from the Sadrist Movement…,” a source close to the alliance told IraqiNews.com news agency. The meeting aimed to reach an accommodation on the recent developments with regards to the electoral law and the upcoming parliamentary election date. The source did not provide further details. Earlier today, Iraq’s Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi vetoed the country’s general election law, ordering it back to the Parliament, which had taken almost three months to pass it. Hashemi objected to Article I of the law, which he said did not give a voice to Iraqis abroad, many of whom are Sunnis who fled the country during sectarian clashes after the US-led invasion in 2003. SS (S)/SR 1