Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

    BAGHDAD, June 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi legislators voted on Monday to remove the Sunni speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, the state-run television reported.

    The television said the parliament decided to choose Shiite deputy speaker Khaled al-Attiyah to preside the parliament temporarily.

    The Iraqi Accordance Front, the largest Sunni Arab bloc to which al-Mashhadani belongs, will present a replacement for al-Mashhadani within one week, the TV said.

    Al-Mashhadani will retain his seat in parliament.

    Al-Mashhadani was urged to leave after allegedly ordered his bodyguards to beat up a Shiite lawmaker on Sunday when a loud brawl occurred between them outside the parliament hall.

    The chief of the Shiite Sadr bloc in the parliament, Nassar al-Rubaie, confirmed to Xinhua by telephone that the parliament held a closed session on Monday and made the decision to remove al-Mashhadani.

    The Iraqi Accordance Front vowed to present its candidate within a week, al-Rubaie added.

    The Sunni speaker is a much controversial figure in Iraqi political arena. Last year, Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers threatened to remove him following his remarks that Iraqis who killed U.S. soldiers were heroes.