Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Iraq Names Sunni as Assembly Speaker

Lawmakers in Baghdad elect three parliamentary leaders by secret ballot. Industry Minister Hajim al-Hassani, a Sunni Arab, won the parliament's speaker post, leading to hopes that a political impasse may be over and that a government may soon be formed.

The National Assembly balloting came nine weeks after Iraqis voted in historic elections. Hassani is regarded as an ally of Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Lulu Garcia-Navarro is the host of Weekend Edition Sunday and one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. She is infamous in the IT department of NPR for losing laptops to bullets, hurricanes, and bomb blasts.