By NNN-KUNA
Baghdad : Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdulmahdi tendered his resignation a few days ago in a move that reflected deepened frustration inside the Iraqi government with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, political sources said here.
Other senior Iraqi officials considered resigning in recent weeks over the failure of their government to make progress after more than a year in power, according to Iraqi and US officials Thursday.
In a statement to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), head of the Cultural Committee at the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq Sheikh Hameed Muaala said that Abdulmahdi presented his resignation to Iraqi President Jalal Talbani as a form of protest against deteriorating security status in the country. Talbani refused the resignation paper.
He added that Abdulmahdi expressed discontent over investigation results prompted by Al-Maliki to reveal who was responsible for the Samarra explosions. Al-Maliki’s advisors insisted that his government remained committed to national unity.
Abdulmahdi, a Shiite, said he was provoked by the second bombing of the Shiite shrine in Samarra on June 13, in which he said corrupt police assisted Sunni insurgents. “The two minarets were as important to us as Sept 11, and we should be accountable to the people,” Abdulmahdi said in a telephone interview with the Washington Post Wednesday.
“We should be doing more to move in a positive direction on corruption, accountability and defending the important sites” he added.