Only in Baghdad: footballer replaces insurgent MP

 
Exit MP Abid-Nasir al-Janabi, enter Iraq's most famous footballer Ahmed Radhi.

 
BAGHDAD - Iraqi politics is a topsy-turvy world but things got a bit weirder on Thursday when the country's most famous footballer became a member of parliament at the expense of a self-confessed insurgent.

Abid-Nasir al-Janabi, a member of parliament's Sunni bloc, the National Concord Front, was ejected after appearing on television and saying he would not attend any more parliamentary sessions and he was off to join the insurgency.

Khaled al-Aratea, the deputy speaker of parliament, said that they would pursue criminal proceedings against Janabi for alleged kidnappings and killings.

Exit Janabi, enter Ahmed Radhi, Iraq's most famous footballer since he scored Iraq's only World Cup finals goal to date against Belgium in 1986.

"The MP (Janabi) will be replaced by Ahmed Radhi, the well-known football player," confirmed Karim Abdullah, a spokesman for the National Concord Front.

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