Delahunt's Office: White House Raised No Concerns About Alleged Bomber

Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-Mass.) is chairing a briefing today in which Congress will hear from two members of the Iraqi parliament. The New York Sun reported today that one of those men has been implicated in a suicide bombing that killed another member of parliament.

Delahunt aide Mark Forest said in an e-mail that the congressman “wanted a cross section of Iraqi parliamentarians. We meet with elected representatives from many foreign countries. Those that came here were given visas by the State Department and were also assisted by the U.S. military. The Bush administration was aware of their arrival and did not raise any concerns to us. Delahunt is looking forward to hosting future meetings with the elected representatives of Iraq on a continuing basis.”

From the Sun: “The New York Sun reported in May 2007 that American and Iraqi security forces raided the home of Mr. al-Ulayyan in Yarmouk, Baghdad, on April 3, 2007, and found stores of TNT that matched the kind used in the suicide belt that detonated on April 12 at the Iraqi parliament's cafeteria. That blast killed a member of parliament, Mohammed Awad, a Sunni Arab member of Mr. al-Ulayyan's coalition,” reads the story by Eli Lake.

“Mr. al-Ulayyan has denied the charge. He has avoided prosecution from Iraq's justice ministry so far because as a member of parliament he is immune to prosecution. In August Mr. al-Ulayyan opted out of the government after a power sharing agreement was reached in Baghdad by Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, saving Prime Minister Maliki's coalition.”