The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament today suspended moves to approve a contentious resolution that would allow British and other non-American troops to remain in the country.

Mahmoud al-Mashhadani called for a delay in voting after a group of MPs demanded his resignation for insulting them during a recent parliamentary shouting match over the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush.

The lawmakers said they were boycotting today’s session until their demands were met.

The speaker threatened to resign last week after he failed to bring under control an unruly debate over the shoe-throwing incident. Last Wednesday the first reading of the resolution failed in the aftermath of Muntathar al-Zaidi’s “attack” on the American President.

Shia and Kurdish politicians aimed to force his resignation today. “Either he resigns or we vote him down,” said Muhsin al-Saadoun, a Kurdish lawmaker. Together, Kurdish and Shia Muslim blocs hold the necessary majority of seats to fire the speaker.

The parliamentary rebels indicated they thought Mr al-Mashhadani insulted the legislature last Wednesday when he said: “There is no honor in leading this parliament and I announce my resignation.”

The process is further complicated by the uncertainty over when Parliament will resume. If the agreement is not passed before a UN mandate expires on December 31, all non-US troops lose legal grounds to remain in Iraq.

The US Government struck a bilateral deal with Baghdad a month ago, extending its troop presence by three years.

Asked what would happen if no agreement was in place by December 31, John Hutton, the British Defence Secretary, said on Sunday: "That would be a very serious situation and obviously we couldn't let it happen, but I don't think it will happen. We have contingency plans. The safety of our guys out there is our top priority. There will have to be an agreement, a proper agreement, before our guys are out on the streets."

MPs had been saying that due to the short time left, the Parliament was likely to issue an interim resolution, memo or even a law allowing the forces to remain in Iraq until proper treaties or agreements were signed.

Under the draft law defeated last week non-US forces would have to cease combat operations at the end of May and withdraw completely by the end of July, more than six years after the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein.

Deputies did not appear to be opposed to the actual terms or the timetable established in the law, just to the format in which the withdrawal deal was framed. They said they wanted something similar in format to the US-Iraq bilateral security pact that allows 140,000 or so US troops in Iraq to stay for three more years.

From next year, Iraqi police and soldiers will take the lead in ensuring security. US combat forces will have to leave Iraqi cities and villages by the end of June and will not be able to conduct operations without Iraqi permission.

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