As Washington pressures Iraq's parliament to cancel its two-month summer break and focus on passing laws, Thursday's session indicated that many lawmakers need a long break.

The governing body's Sunni Arab speaker, Mahmoud Mashadani, slapped another lawmaker after being accused of not paying sufficient heed to the plight of Shiite Muslims displaced by sectarian violence.

"Damn you!" Mashadani said before hitting Hussein Falluji.

The altercation began when Shadha Mousawi, a Shiite lawmaker, complained that the government was ignoring the plight of several hundred Shiites who have been in the southern city of Karbala since mid-April after having fled their homes in Diyala province. Diyala is a stronghold of Sunni Muslim insurgents.

At one point as Mousawi was speaking, Mashadani smiled.

"How can you smile during such a time?" Mousawi said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-slap11may11,0,6265308.story?coll=la-home-center