Iraqi Parliament Fails to Make Quorum Due to Poor Location

BAGHDAD (AFP) Iraq's embattled parliament held an emergency session on Friday to discuss the crisis in the southern city of Basra where Shiite fighters are locked in battle with Iraqi forces, an AFP correspondent said.

Only 54 of the 275 lawmakers attended the session.

The two main parliamentary blocs -- Shiite United Iraqi Alliance and the Kurdish Alliance --- were not present for the session which was attended by lawmakers from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc, the small Shiite Fadhila Party, the secular Iraqi National List and the Sunni National Dialogue Council.

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Next time you want people to attend the Parliament, try not holding it in the Green Zone while it is being shelled.