Iraq's parliament Saturday passed a resolution against the construction of a separation wall in Baghdad and summoned Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to address the nation's security issues.

Lawmakers in the 275-member house passed the resolution with a vote of 138 to 88. The legislation still needs the president and his two deputies' unanimous approval for it to become law, otherwise it will be sent back to the house for re-examination.

Citing the need to protect the minority Sunnis from attack, U.S. troops began in April building a 5-km-long concrete wall surrounding the northern Baghdad district Adhamiyah, where tit-for-tat sectarian violence is threatening to spiral out of control.

When the wall is finished, Adhamiyah will be completely gated, and traffic control points manned by Iraqi soldiers will provide the only means to enter it.

However, the plan has drawn strong criticism from Iraqi politicians and local residents, who have denounced the move as a form of sectarian discrimination.

Earlier in April, al-Maliki, a Shiite, said he rejected the barrier construction in Azamiyah and had ordered a halt to it, adding that there were other ways to protect Iraqis from bomb attacks. But his aides later said he was only responding to exaggerated media reports and that construction would continue.

Source: Xinhua