Iraqi parliament votes to sack Nineveh governor after deadly ferry sinking

BAGHDAD, March 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Parliament on Sunday voted to sack the governor of Nineveh Province after the ferry sinking in the provincial capital Mosul that killed 96 people, the official television reported.

"The Parliament voted through the sacking of the governor of Nineveh and his two deputies at the proposal of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi," state-run al-Iraqiya channel said.

Meanwhile, Jassim al-Jibara, an Iraqi lawmaker, confirmed to Xinhua that the Nineveh governor was sacked by the Parliament.

"The Parliament has unanimously voted to sack the governor of Nineveh Nawfal al-Akoub and his two deputies Abdul Qadir Sinjari and Hassan al-Allaf," he said.

The Parliament also passed a resolution to continue investigations of the tragic ferry sinking and to hold those responsible accountable, al-Jibara added.

Moreover, Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi has referred a request, signed by 121 lawmakers to dissolve Nineveh's provincial council and bring its members to justice, to the Parliament's legal committee for deliberation, the Iraqi lawmaker said.

A day earlier, Abdul Mahdi called on the Parliament to sack the governor of Nineveh and his two deputies over the deadly ferry sinking.

On Thursday afternoon, a ferryboat carrying dozens of people capsized when crossing from the bank of the river to a small tourist island called Um al Rabeein in northern Mosul, some 400 km north of the capital Baghdad.

The sinking was the gravest incident in Mosul since the city was liberated from extremist Islamic State militants in late 2017.

Angry residents of Mosul blamed the negligence of the local government for the incident, believing corruption and mismanagement to be the cause.