Sunni legislator: Office raided, guards detained, says coup by 'executive branch against the legislative' underway

Above: Prime Minister Maliki is prominently featured in a military parade. In February Maliki declared sweeping emergency powers amounting to martial law in Baghdad and afterwards expanded to other provinces.

BAGHDAD (AP) - A Sunni lawmaker on Tuesday accused Iraq 's Shiite -dominated government of conducting a coup against constitutional guarantees of imunity for members of parliament, citing raids against the homes and offices of 20 Sunni parliamentarians.

Mohammed al-Dayni, of the Sunni Iraqi National Dialogue Front, spoke a day after Iraqi forces raided his office in western Baghdad and detained five guards. Al-Dayni, whose bloc has 11 seats in parliament, said soldiers also confiscated 31 weapons and unspecified amount of cash.

"So far, the homes and offices of 20 parliamentarians, all Sunnis, have been raided," al-Dayni claimed during a news conference. "What is happening in Iraq today, especially in Baghdad, is a coup by the executive branch against the legislative branch."

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