Iraqi Parliament voting on new speaker

BAGHDAD, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The Iraqi Parliament met Thursday in Baghdad to replace outgoing Speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a media source says.

The unidentified source told KUNA, the Kuwait News Agency, that Parliament's closed-door session Thursday was aimed at finding a successor for Mashhadani from among 10 potential candidates.

The names of the parliamentary presidential candidates weren't reported but a vote was expected to take place sometime during the private session.

Thursday's vote comes after top Parliament officials such as Vice President of the Parliament Khalid al-Attiyah met with members of a parliament speaker electoral committee.

KUNA said that recent meeting included talks regarding how best to reach a consensus on a speaker candidate despite varying political beliefs within Parliament.

The talks also focused on a parliamentary session mechanism that would facilitate such an election, the news agency said.