[3] He was elected to the Council of Representatives of Iraq in December 2005 for the Iraqi Accord Front list and he became deputy head of parliament's legal committee.

[5] He headed the parliament's Human Rights Committee, where he accused the government of Nouri al Maliki of torturing detainees.

[6] In 2011, the Iraqi newspaper Al-Sabah al-Jadid quoted sources saying an arrest warrant had been issued for him on charges of terrorism.

[citation needed] The al Sabah newspaper reported at the same time that the Higher Judicial Council had asked the parliament to lift his immunity.

His election was initially approved by the Independent High Electoral Commission on the grounds that they had "serious crime cases" pending against him.