Al-Maliki counterattacked by implying al-Janabi was responsible for the kidnapping of 150 people in Anbar province, the Sunni stronghold west of Baghdad.

"This brother will trust the Cabinet when I come forward with your file and show that you are responsible. There are 150 people detained in Buhayrat area and you don't speak about them," al-Maliki snapped. Buhayrat is an insurgent stronghold in Anbar.

Legislators believed to be Shiites applauded the remark.

Parliament speaker Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, a Sunni, then organized a short suspension of the debate, called a vote on the security plan - which was approved unanimously - and continued with normal business.

Al-Maliki refused to shake hands when al-Janabi approached him after the session.

Angry and insulting exchanges have become normal in Iraq's 275-member parliament, but the involvement of the nation's leader heightened the tension.

Parliamentary sessions previously were broadcast live, but the government has since ordered them to be aired with a 30-minute delay to allow editing.

During Thursday's session, state-run Iraqiya television stopped airing the session shortly after the exchange and later aired an edited version.

In his address al-Maliki also called on lawmakers to pass laws on distribution of the country's oil wealth and reverse measures that have excluded many Sunnis from jobs and government positions because of Baath party membership.

Al-Maliki also promised to stop the so-called practice of sectarian cleansing that has driven thousands from their homes.

"You should know that today or tomorrow we will detain every person who is living in the house of a displaced person in order to open the door for those displaced to return," al-Maliki said.

White House spokesman Tony Snow called the speech "a very assertive address. ... We certainly welcome that, because it demonstrates the kind of vigor we've been talking about and that the American people expect, and also responds specifically to concerns members of Congress have been expressing, in terms of the aims of and the determination of the government of Iraq."

Until Monday, parliament had not had a quorum since late November, when 30 legislators and five Cabinet members loyal to renegade Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr announced a boycott of the government and the National Assembly to protest al-Maliki's meeting with Bush in Jordan.

The boycott was a blow to al-Maliki, who owes his job to support from the Sadr bloc in parliament.

On Sunday the Sadr legislators ended their walkout under threat that they would be ousted from the political process and that their allied militia, the Mahdi Army, could face wholesale attack by American soldiers in the coming security sweep.

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