[JURIST] Sunni members of the Iraqi Council of Representatives [official website, in Arabic] ended a lengthy boycott [JURIST report] of parliamentary sessions Thursday, after agreeing to a secret deal with Shi'a political parties that will reinstate Sunni lawmaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani [Wikipedia profile] as speaker of the Council of Representatives. According to an aide to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki [BBC profile], Al-Mashhadani, who was removed in June by a majority vote in the council [Reuters report], is expected to voluntarily resign in the near future.

Last Thursday, the White House's Initial Benchmark Assessment Report [text; JURIST report] on political progress in Iraq said that the Iraqi government's efforts to pass legislation on oil revenue sharing [JURIST news archive] had been delayed by the boycott. In June, four Sunni members of the Iraqi cabinet announced their boycott of cabinet meetings to protest the arrest warrant [JURIST report] issued for Sunni Culture Minister Asad Kamal al-Hashimi [RFE/RL report]. Sunni politicians have said the warrant was part of a sectarian effort to remove Sunni leaders. AP has more.