Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Hot Seat

A man sentenced to death in Kuwait for the 1983 bombings of the U.S. and French embassies now sits in Iraq's Parliament as a member of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ruling coalition, it was reported yesterday.

Jamal Jafaar Mohammed, who currently has immunity from prosecution because he is a member of Parliament, supports Shiite insurgents and acts as an Iranian agent in Iraq, U.S. officials told CNN.

Intelligence sources said Mohammed is accused of assisting Iranian special forces in Iraq as a "conduit for weapons and political influence," CNN reported.

A Kuwaiti court sentenced Mohammed to death in 1984 for the car bombings the previous December. Five people died and 86 were wounded. He had fled the country before the trial.

Mohammed has also been accused of being involved in the hijacking of a Kuwaiti jetliner in 1984 and trying to assassinate a Kuwaiti prince.

Mohammed won a seat on Iraq's Council of Representatives in December 2005. He represents Babil province, a region south of Baghdad.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman told CNN that officials are actively pursuing Jamal Jafaar Mohammed's case with Iraqi officials.
It is quite curious to know what took so long to realize that this guy was a member of Parliament. Did no one notice that his name was on the ballots?

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