Baghdad - The Iraqi parliament's Sunni speaker on Tuesday said he would resign under certain conditions, minutes before he convened a closed-door emergency session with MPs to decide his fate, media reports said.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani told lawmakers before the session that in return for his resignation he wanted to be named head of a human rights association, Al-Arabiya news channel reported.

He also asked that his successor be chosen from the Sunni Iraqi Accordance Bloc (Tawafuk), Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency reported.

Baghdad (Iraq), Dec 23 : Indian spiritual guru Sri Ravi Shankar is on a visit to Iraq to bring closer the Shia and Sunni communities who have been fighting against each other.

Ravi Shankar, who runs Art of Living Foundation, has been teaching yoga and meditation to the war-weary Iraqis and his foundation is working for rehabilitation of the war victims in Iraq since 2003.

Ravi Shankar met many Iraqi tribal and other political leaders in Baghdad in an effort to facilitate mending fences between the two communities.

He said the process was underway and his foundation was working towards establishing harmony among the warring factions.

Baghdad (Iraq), Dec 23 : Iraqi Minister of Justice and Education Safa Al deen Al Safi has denied the reports that Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi who threw shoes George Bush during a press confe

Baghdad - Provincial council elections in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh will be held on January 31 as scheduled, despite a vote by the provincial council to postpone them, an official from the Independent High Election Commission (IHEC) said on Friday.

"The IHEC is the only body which has the right to postpone the elections according to article 46 of the provincial council elections law," Abdul Khaleq al-Dabagh told the Voice of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

Baghdad - The Iraqi government will not excuse Iraqi journalist Montazer al-Zaidi, despite his apology and appeal for a pardon, a spokesman for the government of Nuri al-Maliki said on Friday.

Al-Zaidi, 29, who threw his shoes at US President George W Bush at a press conference on Sunday, appealed for a pardon from the Iraqi premier on Sunday.

A government official said that al-Maliki will not interfere in the trial of al-Zaidi, which began Wednesday. He has been charged with attacking the head of a foreign state. He faces between five and 15 years in prison.

Baghdad - The Iraqi government on Thursday denied media reports about an alleged coup plan by security officials, al-Arabiya news channel reported.

Earlier on Thursday, media reports said Iraqi security forces arrested 35 high-ranking security officials whom they said were attempting to revive the Baath Party of former president Saddam Hussein.

Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdel Kareem Khalaf confirmed the arrests, but said that "nothing will be clear until investigation ends", the Dubai-based channel quoted him as saying.